Days Under a Red Sun
by HyperNin
Summary: Blake was exhausting herself from all this White Fang hunting going on recently, and the Beacon Dance was coming up. Ruby knew that Sun would ask Blake out, so she, as the glorious, selfless leader she is, decided to prevent that, if only to stop Blake getting even more stressed. Too bad her only solution was to ask the monkey out herself. Who knows, maybe it will be fun.
1. Chapter 1

**WHAT HAVE I DONE?!**

 **So, shipping. It's... a thing.**

 **So here I was, sitting, and writing a chapter of Responsibilities. THEN BAM, inspiration!**

 **Too bad the inspiration was a Red Sun fic.**

 **Why?**

 **That's a question I ask myself every second I write this.**

 **What have I done...**

 **On aside real quick, there are four names that I've seen for this ship. Red Sun, Sunset, Strawbana, and Photosynthesis. We really need a common consensus.**

* * *

Team RWBY was a little on edge right now. Or more like, one fourth of it is. Blake was being very obsessive over every little thing involving the White Fang. She was staying up almost all night, always had her face in a book or screen, and was getting regularly distracted. Ruby was worried. She was worried, and so was the rest of her team, but Ruby was the leader, and as the leader, she wanted to take responsibility for the well-being of her teammates.

As team RWBY was exiting the main building after Goodwitch's class, Ruby noticed how team SSSN was outside. She let her team pass by her, as she noticed Sun was running up to Blake. She knew that Sun had the very real possibility to stress out Blake even more. She knew that Sun was going to ask Blake out. She needed a way to stop Sun from doing so, if only to give Blake time to get over this White Fang thing. The very small, hormonal part of her mind decided that now was the right time to intervene.

By this point, the rest of RWBY noticed how their leader just stopped walking, and turned around to investigate. Just as Sun had almost caught up with Blake, he walked past Ruby, who caught his attention.

"Hey Sun..."

"Hm?" He stopped, and turned to Ruby, who seemed to be fidgeting a little bit.

"Um..." She then paused. _'What am I doing!?'_ she thought. "I was wondering..." She then started to put the tips of her fingers together. "If you want to go to the Ball with me?" She ended meekly.

The world seemed to halt. All rational thought? Gone. Team SSSN? Stunned. Team RWBY? A whole array of emotions. Over on a small island, an adult Xiao-Long felt as though he was being tested in some way.

All at once, there was an explosion of emotions.

Ruby turned a shade of red darker than her cloak. Weiss just stood there. Blake was pinching herself, and then after that, just staring. Neptune's jaw dropped. Scarlet and Sage looked at each other. Sun turned red, and began stuttering. Yang? She stood, and watched carefully. She wondered what had happened to Ruby to get her to do this. She wanted to scream at her for doing this, but also recognized that she was capable of making these decisions on her own. So she just watched carefully.

 _'What am I doing?! What have I done?! Why did I do this?!'_ Were just a selection of thoughts that were in Ruby's mind when Sun began stuttering. She then panicked, and began turning yet redder, before yelling "SORRY!" and running off into the wind.

* * *

Sun for his part, was taking this as well as he could. Especially consider he now had a pissed off Yang right behind him. Something about how he should have responded, instead of just standing there, sputtering like a fish. Luckily, his team was able to back him up. Or would have, if not for the fact that it's Yang. Sun, in his infinite wisdom, decided to try negotiating with the pissed off dragon. That went as well as expected. She didn't seem to like his 'terms'.

He was finally able to escape her, by climbing up to the roof of the school. _'Go extra appendages!'_ He now had time to think about Ruby's request. She was a nice girl, and pretty adorable. He just never thought of her like that though. Sure, he could simply go to her, and tell her no, but then she would feel upset, and the last thing he wanted to see was a crying Ruby. And if Yang was pissed now? Well, he wanted to keep his head to himself.

He was at a cross-roads. One part of him wanted to just say no to her, but the other didn't. He didn't want to lead her on either.

He decided to try to find one of his teammates to talk to. So he jumped down, and began swinging around to find one of them.

Turns out, they were all hiding from Yang together. She turned her wrath on them as soon as she lost sight of Sun.

When he met up with them, they initially were very curious as to what exactly caused this.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure. We barely even speak to each other, but she just asked me out right there."

"What do you plan to do?" Scarlet asked.

"Not sure on that one either. That's actually why I was looking for you guys." They then went silent, and all began thinking about it.

"You should just go for it." Neptune said.

"What!? Why!?"

"Well, you don't want to hurt her, right?" He nodded. "So tell her that you'll go with her. Just say that you want to try it, and if you don't enjoy, then you just stop." Wise words from a school-renowned ladies man. No one could come up with anything better, so Sun decided that was the best course of action.

Now how to get near Ruby without her freaking out?

* * *

Ruby was confused. She wasn't exactly sure what part of her convinced her to ask out Sun, but she wanted that part dead. She knew that she did it to prevent Sun from asking out Blake, but at the same time, it probably would have been better that way. That way, RWBY would have had an avenue to get Blake to go to the dance.

Not whatever this is. The Y of team RWBY decided to get Ruby to do something about this. How? Well, she decided to first, bar her from leaving the room, until she explained why she asked out Sun. She didn't like her answer.

"I can't believe you! Why would you decide it was a good idea to stop him from asking out Blake?!" Yang was furious.

"Well, she's really stressed right now, and I thought that adding Sun to her list of problems would be even worse for her."

"Are. You. KIDDING ME!?" That wasn't a good reaction. "You asked him out, just to stop him being rejected by Blake?"

"Yes...?"

Yang just held her head. After a while, she said "Fine." Ruby tilted her head. "You have to learn that your actions have consequences." She didn't like where this was going. She hated it when Yang pulled out her 'disappointed voice'. "So, if Sun decides to take up your offer, you have to go!" Ruby really didn't enjoy this outcome.

"But-"

"No buts! You got yourself into this situation, and I won't always be here to help you out! It's time for little Ruby to leave the nest!" Ruby didn't know what else she was expecting. She could tell Yang was forcing herself to do this. She forced a smile, and kept spouting off how 'her little baby was growing up so fast!' and 'real world applications.' There was no out of this situation.

She wished Yang just freaked out, and continued attacking Sun.

And it didn't help that, at that moment, she got a text from Sun, saying 'Meet me in the courtyard.' Yang looked at this, then her, and said "Will you be okay?"

"I'll be okay when I can tell Sun that you won't allow me to go."

"Nope!"

"Ugh! Okay, I'll go now. Later Yang!"

"Bye Rubes!" Yang waved her off with a plastered on smile.

* * *

The walk was long, and, without much to do, Ruby started to think. She thought about Sun mostly. He was a pretty cool guy, even if they didn't really speak much. She couldn't find many similarities between the two of them. It also doesn't help that the Beacon Rumor Mill has already started doing it's thing.

The 15 year-old genius had just asked out the monkey thief. No way was this news going to go away any time soon.

After a bit more walking, she finally made it to the courtyard, and standing near the statue, was Sun. _'Well, no time like the present!'_ She walked up to near him, and was already blushing just standing there. It was then that he turned around.

"Hey Ruby..."

"Hey..." They both just stood there for a second. Then Sun spoke up again.

"So, uh... about earlier..." He stood there, and shuffled nervously. Ruby just looked at him expectantly. "I'll go to the dance with you." He hurriedly spit out, then turned away.

Ruby for her part, was both surprised and horrified. Behind that however, a part of her was relieved. A part her was glad that he said yes.

Then there was the part of her that had no idea to respond.

Which was all of her.

Sun was still looking away, and he was probably expecting some kind of answer. "Thank you Sun." She then gave him the best smile she could muster. That seemed to brighten up his mood significantly. He grinned brightly, and Ruby grinned back.

Maybe this could be fun.

* * *

 **Okay, so in all seriousness, I find this pairing just incredibly adorable. I also categorize as a crack pairing, so there's that. The main reason for this existing is that there are next to no Red Sun fics on this site, and I wanted to change that.**

 **This may, or may not be obvious, but I have absolutely no experience writing Romance. This is kinda just an experiment.**

 **Whether or not it's a success is based on feedback.**


	2. Chapter 2

Ruby was currently headed back to her room. After Sun accepted her invitation, they both went there separate ways. When she made it back, she first noticed how Blake and Weiss had arrived back. She also noticed how it looked like they were waiting for her. They all turned their heads to the door, and immediately went to surround her.

"So...?" Yang asked. She looked giddy, ready to jump, and terrified all at once. Weiss and Blake both looked extremely curious.

Ruby sighed. "He said yes..." She looked down, and refused to meet any of her teammates eyes. Mostly because she didn't want them to see her increasingly red face. That all went out the window however, when Yang scooped her up into a giant bear hug.

"Yang-" Ruby huffed. "Can't... Breath!" Yang then released her.

"Look at you! Fifteen, and you already have a boyfriend!"

"YANG! He's not my boyfriend! It's just a dance!" Her face was almost burning red by this point.

"Then why are you blushing so much?" Yang said, sticking her tongue out.

"Because it's embarrassing!" She practically screamed, flailing her arms about. There was then a small 'ahem' from beside them.

"Not that I don't... dislike, the squabbling, I would like to know how this came about." Weiss said. Ruby just sighed to herself, and began explaining the story to her, and by extension, Blake. After she was done, everyone in the room turned towards Blake.

"This won't convince me to stop you know..." She replied indignantly.

"Ugh... C'mon Blake..." Ruby said gingerly. _'I guess we're having this discussion again...'_

* * *

Sun was currently facing a much similar situation to Ruby when she first got back. Of course, he had no idea.

"Sooo...?" Neptune questioned. Sun cocked his head to the side. "What will you do now?" He continued.

"Guess I'll just wait for the actual Dance to roll around, go to it, see where I go from there." Sun replied. Neptune shook his head.

"Listen, this has been bothering me for a while, but you need a suit." Neptune replied, much to Sun's horror.

"A suit? C'mon man. I got that covered."

"A black shirt, and a tie doesn't count."

"Why not!?"

"Multiple reasons, but for one, you need actual pants for it." Sun was about to argue that he already had pants, but Neptune interrupted him by saying "And jeans don't count!"

This discussion carried on way into the night, and it even continued after they woke up the next morning.

"I just don't understand what the big deal is! Why are there all these special rules for a school dance!?" Sun exclaimed. Neptune and him were currently walking to the Gymnasium, partly because they were bored, mostly because Neptune heard Weiss was helping to set up the whole thing.

"We just spent the last three hours on this! We're not doing it again." Neptune replied exasperatedly. He was about to say something else, but they then heard Yang.

"Weiss! I thought we agreed, no doilies!"

"If I don't get doilies, you don't get fog machines."

That's when Neptune decided to barge in, and began chatting with the two. Sun, of course, followed him in, and began looking around. Pink and blue balloons and ribbons. Other than that, there appeared to be an amplifier right by a table with a red figure slouched over it. Sun walked over to her.

"What's up Ruby?" Conversation around them halted.

The Red Reaper sighed. "It's just Blake. She's not coming to the dance..."

"Huh? Why?"

"It's her 'White Fang' stuff, that's 'all her problem'" Weiss then said. "How can one girl be so stubborn?"

"Well, it's Blake, what did you expect to happen?" Sun said. Ruby then fixed him with the most intimidating glare she could muster. Needless to say, it was more adorable than anything.

She then made to say something, but Yang interrupted with "Don't worry guys, she'll be there." She then walked off. Right before she left the room however, she turned her head towards Ruby. "You still need to get your dress! Wouldn't want to disappoint your date." She said with a wink, causing Ruby to blush. Yang then walked out the door.

"Oh! That reminds me." Neptune exclaimed. He then pointed at Sun. "We're going into Vale. I refuse to let you go on a date in jeans, and your normal shirt." And without enough time to say anything, Sun was dragged off.

Weiss then turned her head to Ruby. "You, have a dress being delivered today. You better be ready." She said. Ruby just simply nodded.

* * *

"I highly doubt that we'll find a pair of pants for me Nep." Sun said. Him and Neptune were currently walking in Vale. "The last twenty or so didn't have any with tail holes, and there aren't many shops left." Finding pants he could wear was always a problem. Only a select few shops ever made pants with Faunus tails in mind.

"Well, there's still another shops! You never know Sun, maybe one will have a pair for you!" Neptune replied hopefully. This picked up Sun's spirits a bit.

They arrived at the shop, and walked in. The old lady at the counter eyed them for a bit, before her eyes widened upon seeing Sun. She watched him as he milled about the small shop. He was perusing the back of the shop, and he was using his tail to hold up a pair, before turning it around, shaking his head, and putting it back.

The old lady picked up a bat that was behind her counter.

"Nope! Looks like this shop's a bust to." Sun said to Neptune. Neptune then put back a pair he was looking at, before noticing something behind his best friend.

"Dude! Look out!" He said. On cue, Sun turned, just to be met with a swinging bat. He wasn't prepared for it, and had no time to engage his Aura, so the bat struck true, right on his temple. He was sent sprawling onto the ground, and was incredibly dazed.

"Get out a' 'ere you filthy animal!" The lady screamed. She reeled back to take another swing, but the bat was snatched up by Neptune. He glared at her, and she glared back, before Sun got up.

"C'mon Nep! This place didn't have what we needed anyway." He said, as he began walking away.

"But-" Neptune said, but then just shook his head, and released the woman.

Neither men were in the mood for much shopping after that, so they boarded a Bullhead, and began back to Beacon. They sat in silence the entire time, and as more of it passed, the darker the spot where Sun was hit grew. The Bullhead landed without a single word being spoken.

The two of them began walking in the direction of the dorms, still saying nothing, when they ran into Yang and Blake. The two girls noticed Sun and Neptune, and Yang dragged Blake over to talk.

"What's up you two?" Yang asked enthusiastically.

"Just getting back from a shopping trip" Neptune answered.

"With no bags?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, we couldn't find what we were looking for..." He said, but trailed of at the end.

"Oh. That's too bad." She then said. "Mind me asking what it was?" She asked hopefully.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Just curious!" She said a little to quickly.

"Okay...? We were just looking for some dress pants for Sun, but we couldn't find any with tail holes." He answered.

"There weren't any in all of Vale?"

"Our trip got cut short."

"Hm?" Yang then looked over at Sun, and saw the injury on his head. "What happened!?"

"Uh..." Neptune tried, but he didn't want to reveal what happened.

"Just a grumpy old shop keep who didn't like me." Sun said with a goofy smile on his face. "Nep, we should get back, maybe we could just take one of your pants and cut a hole in them."

"What! No! You can go in your jeans, just don't touch my clothes!" Neptune replied indignantly. They began walking, leaving Blake and Yang behind to ponder what happened to Sun.

They already had an idea however.

* * *

 **There's that chapter done.**

 **One thing that I noticed when I watched Volume 4 was how Ilia was able to hit Sun with no resistance, even though he still had Aura left. That led me to the idea that Sun is relaxed to the point where we doesn't keep his Aura up at all times. That idea then spiraled into this chapter.**

 **I guess you could say that this chapter exists to show off one of Sun's character flaws.**

 **And Racism.**


	3. Chapter 3

Ruby was sitting at the official 'RWBY table in the Cafeteria (feat. JNPR)'. She was sitting with Blake and JNPR. She was eating her usual bowl of strawberries, with cookies on the side.

Perfectly healthy.

Yang and Weiss were currently in the Gym, finishing up the preparations for the Dance. They would be getting back soon hopefully.

The Dance that was tonight.

That she had a date too. She could admit it to herself. She was excited. This was her first date after all, and it was all she was thinking of.

Unfortunately, it seemed like she was the only one of her friends who had one, except for maybe Weiss. It was also pretty quiet at there table too, with the only exception being Nora. She was telling another story of one of her dreams, with Ren correcting her.

Jaune was paying attention to her, the best he could, but seemed to be more interested in his food as time went on. Pyrrha was doing much the same, except instead of food, she was actually paying attention to Jaune. Blake was reading, but at least she was looking a lot better than yesterday. It seems like Yang broke through to her.

Blake probably didn't have a date to go with though. The one who would is currently going with Ruby. _'Wait! Would she be happy if I just let her have Sun?'_ She thought to herself. She then shook her head. _'No... She isn't the most tolerating of Sun.'_ And a small part of her refused to let Sun go this close to the Dance.

"You okay Ruby?" Blake asked. Everyone was looking at her right now. Her face flushed red.

"Fine!" Blake raised her eyebrow at that. At least she was subtle about her suspicion.

"Maybe she's thinking of the Dance later!" Unfortunately, Nora wasn't. Ruby's face grew darker. "Ha! CALLED IT!" Nora yelled.

"Called what?" It seems like the world didn't favor Ruby today because the person who asked was Yang.

"What are you doing here Yang?" Ruby said quickly. The grin on her sister's face grew.

"Oh? What are you panicking about?" She asked slyly.

"Nothing!"

"Must you always be so loud?" Weiss asked. She then sat down in the seat next to Blake. Yang pulled up a chair at the end of the table, in order to sit by Ruby.

"Not my fault Ice Queen. Talk to your partner about the noise complaint." Yang said, pointing at Ruby with her thumb. Weiss just grumbled and continued eating.

Ruby breathed a small sigh of relief as Yang went to eating, and chatting with Pyrrha.

Ruby was able to eat one strawberry before she was interrupted again. This time, it was Sun and Neptune who came over.

"Look! The gang's all here!" Neptune said enthusiastically.

"Hey there Neptune," Yang said. "What brings you by?"

"Eh, got nothing else to do really."

As they continued to chat, along with Weiss, and Nora, Sun walked over to Ruby. "What's up?"

"Just eating lunch. I'm really excited for tonight actually!" She said that loudly. _'Why did I say that? Mind! I thought we agreed on what you would keep to yourself!'_ She internally reprimanded herself.

"I am too!" He then looked behind Ruby and saw Blake. He leaned towards her and said "Blake? Are you done being anti-social?" She sent him one of her patented glares. "I'll take that as a yes then." He said. He leaned back to a standing position and looked back at Ruby.

For some reason, Ruby's eyes were widened a bit. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Did you get into an accident?" She said, referring to the small, lingering bruise that was still there from yesterday.

"Pfft, I'm fine. Just a small bruise, not like we don't get them all the time." He replied.

"Okay..." Ruby said. She was about to say something more when Neptune called Sun over.

"Dude! We gotta go!"

"Be right there!" Sun turned to Ruby. "See you later." He said to her. He then turned and left with Neptune.

The pair made it out of the Cafeteria, and Neptune turned to him. "So?"

"Well... you see..."

"C'mon dude! What happened to the plan!?" Ah yes, the plan.

Two Hours Earlier

"Sun! Wake up!" Neptune yelled at him. His head rose. Sage and Scarlet were playing on the DustBox One already.

"Huh?"

"You! We have to make sure you're ready for tonight."

 _'Tonight? What was... Oh! Right! Ruby.'_ "I'm up! How're we gonna do this?"

"I have a carefully laid out plan."

The plan went as such. First, Neptune would be on lookout duty. He had to make sure Team RWBY was all together during lunch. Second, the pair would go up to them, and Neptune would distract the Momma Bear (Yang). Third, Sun would go over and flirt with Ruby.

"It's brilliant!" Neptune yelled.

Sun wasn't so amused.

Present

"Yeah, I wasn't so on board with it in the first place," Sun said.

"WHAT!" Neptune looked angry.

"Well, I'm still not sure about how this whole thing will go. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about going on a date with Ruby either. This still feels like a dickish thing to do." Sun ranted.

"Alright, I see what you're saying. Fine. We have seven-and-a-half hours to find you a suitable tie. Let's move!"

"How will it take seven hours to get a TIE!?"

* * *

It was almost exactly seven hours later.

"Hmmm... Pink? Nah. Blue? It fits his eyes... White maybe..." Neptune was muttering to himself in the corner, while Sun was sitting on his bed, in his normal jeans, and a black dress shirt.

"UGH! PICK! ONE!" Sun screamed at him. Sage and Scarlet had already gone ahead with their dates, that they somehow had.

"This is important!" Neptune then turned back around and went back to muttering about the ties. Sun checked the time. 8:45. Ruby was expecting him at 9:00.

"We don't have time! Just give me the red one!"

"Aha! Red! Why didn't I think of that?" Neptune then picked the tie up and helped Sun tie it around him.

"Are these things supposed to be death traps?" Sun asked.

"They're fancy!" Neptune replied indignantly.

"These are probably easy to hang yourself with."

"Shut up!"

Sun chuckled to himself and walked to the door. He turned towards Neptune and said "Are ya coming? We're picking up the girls from the same room, right? Unless Weiss is already there." Sun started thinking to himself but was interrupted.

"Nah... I'm going alone." He replied sadly.

"Dude, come on! Take dance lessons already if you're that embarrassed about it. I can't dance, but you don't see me complaining about it." Sun berated him.

"Just. Go get your date!"

"... Alright..."

With that, Sun walked out the room. He shook his head clear of negative thoughts. _'Neptune's his own guy. He can do what he wants.'_ He checked the time again. 8:50. Ten minutes to walk to the RWBY dorm. He should hurry.

He didn't have to run, but he still quickened his pace. It wouldn't do to keep a lady waiting.

He arrived at 8:56. He took a moment to psych himself up and knocked on the door. A moment later, the door opened.

Ruby stood there in a stunning red dress, and she looked a little taller than usual too. Sun just barely was able to keep his jaw from dropping to the floor. She was looking at him a little weirdly, so he quickly straightened himself out.

"You ready?" He asked her.

"Yup!" She replied enthusiastically nodding her head.

For some reason, Sun didn't even notice Blake was in the room with Ruby. Or that she walked out right after he and Ruby did. OR that she then walked over to the JNPR dorm and started walking with Jaune.

* * *

The walk to the Gym was filled with small chatter. It wasn't a dreadfully long walk or anything, but to Ruby, it felt like time was really flying.

She was terrible at small talk and was scared of messing up somehow, but the words just came naturally to her at the moment. It was just, easy to talk to Sun.

"So you sneezed up an explosion right on Weiss?"

"Ugh, yeah. She was so angry, she even gave me a pamphlet on Dust." Sun started snickering at her misfortune. "Oh yeah? Well, then what's your embarrassing story then?"

"Well... It was a small little dancing accident this one time, no big deal."

"How's that embarrassing?"

"Heh, well, all of Haven saw me dancing, and uh... yeah." He scratched the back of his head and had this sheepish smile on him. Ruby grew this mischievous smile on her face.

"Oh, so does that mean you really care about your public image?" He then began eyeing her. "I honestly didn't expect it, considering how you wanted to, and are coming in your jeans."

"Says the girl complaining about the heels she has to wear!"

"Hey!"

"Aw, you two are so cute!" Came another voice. The pair looked forward and noticed that they were at the Gym already. Yang was also standing there behind a podium. She was practically hugging herself with excitement.

"Yang!"

"Just telling like it is!"

Ruby sent her best glare at Yang, and she just laughed it off, and let them through. Sun then took Ruby's hand in his, and walked through, causing Ruby to blush, and Yang to giggle.

As soon as the couple walked in, they headed to the dance-floor. There wasn't much else to do besides chat, and they'd been doing that for the last couple minutes. It was time to dance.

It would have been great if only they didn't overlook two simple things. Sun couldn't dance, and Ruby was wearing heels. On there own, they were a disaster waiting to happen. Together? Well, it's accurate to say there would be little walking the next day.

"Ow!"

"Sorry! I'll try an- Ow!"

"Sorry!"

After a small while, after they tried to dance together, they tried dancing apart from each other.

That didn't work out either.

"Woah!"

Ruby just about fell. If Sun weren't there, she definitely would have. "Stupid lady stilts!" She said to herself.

Needless to say, they gave up on that pretty soon as well. They quickly grew bored. There wasn't much to do at a School Dance aside from dance. It's in the name. They just stood by the punch bowl and started talking.

"I swear I'm not usually this bad at dancing!" Ruby said.

"Not sure if I believe you," Sun replied.

"It's true! Yang and my dad made me go to dance lessons when I was younger. They said it would help me be more social."

"How exactly does dancing make you more social?"

"That's what I said. They just said it will, and made me go."

"And? Did it work?"

"No."

"Well, for not being social, you sure have a lot of friends," Sun said. Ruby cocked her head at this. He then gestured to the dance-floor, where they saw Blake and Jaune dancing together. Yang up on a balcony, Weiss trying to fix a flower, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren all doing a three-person dance, and Neptune chatting up a girl. "See what I mean?"

"You mean Blake and Jaune dancing? When did that happen?"

"No! Not that. I'm saying that you have all these friends, and yet from what you're saying, you aren't the most popular person in the world." As Sun was talking, Yang came down from the balcony and stole Blake away from Jaune. After that, Jaune started walking over to the punch bowl.

"Hey, guys. What's up?" He asked.

"Oh nothing much, just chatting," Ruby replied. "So... Blake huh? What's the story behind that?"

"Well... she didn't have a date for the Dance, and I caught her on the computer in the library. She didn't really look too good, so I decided to talk with her. She got annoyed, exploded, and refused to talk. I ended up telling her about when I first ran away from my home, and she eventually caved in."

"Wait! I thought Yang was gonna do something!" Sun said.

"I ran into her afterward, and she also talked to Blake. I asked her out after I saw Weiss ask Neptune to the Dance." He looked up, slightly sad.

Ruby and Sun looked towards each other. Then Sun said, "Neptune went alone." Jaune spit out the punch he was drinking and looked at him.

"So did Weiss," Ruby added. Jaune then looked over at Weiss and saw her sitting alone.

"Hold my punch!" Jaune said, with a determined face. He then walked off, towards where Neptune was headed.

"Hope he doesn't attack Nep," Sun said.

"Nah, Jaune's a sweet guy. I doubt he would physically attack Neptune over this." Ruby replied.

After a while, the entire room fell into a fit of laughter. Ruby looked horrified, and Sun was just laughing his head off. The Reason? Jaune was currently wearing a dress, and tearing up the dance-floor.

A second later, Ruby began laughing as well. She laughed so hard, that she almost fell. She tried to catch herself, but her heels through her off balance, and she fell onto Sun. Because of course, she did.

It took a second for them to realize what happened, but after they did, they mumbled out disjointed apologies and refused to look at each other.

"Sorry, these heels won't let me stay standing."

"It's fine, I understand."

"I think I need some fresh air." Ruby quickly spit out. She began walking out the door. Sun turned towards her and was about to say something, only to stop in his tracks.

He was looking right at the roof, where he saw a woman in a skin-tight burglar outfit running across the roof.

Ruby looked at Sun, and he simply replied: "It's not like we were really doing anything." She giggled and threw off her heels. He tossed off his tie.

The pair ran out towards the Cross Continental Transmit System Tower.

* * *

 **And we're done here!**

 **I tried to sprinkle in as much fluff, and banter in as possible. This chapter is meant to show a sort of, growing attraction. Not one that either realizes yet, but one that could grow into something great.**

 **Also Knightshade.**

 **Why?**

 **The better question is, 'Why not?'**

 **It won't be a major focus or anything, just a small little background gag for other characters to be baffled at.**


	4. Chapter 4

Ruby and Sun stepped out of the elevator and noticed a woman sitting at the front desk in the Com Room. She seemed to be talking to someone over a radio. It didn't seem like she noticed them. The pair wasted no time. They jumped forward and began attacking.

Ruby shot a round right at her. She noticed and quickly jumped out of the way. Sun then rushed her down, swinging his Bo Staff at her furiously. She was forced onto the defensive, blocking his strikes, but quickly losing ground. Ruby then ran around to the side and provided cover fire for him.

That's when the elevator door opened. Ironwood was standing there, and Ruby was about to let out a cheer when she heard Sun yell "She's getting away!" She looked over and saw the masked woman closing the door to the stairwell.

Ironwood screamed into his radio to form a perimeter around the CCT. Then turned it off in order to talk to Ruby and Sun.

"You two! Explain what happened here!" He ordered.

"Well, we were partying, but decided to take a break, and get fresh air," Sun answered. Ironwood narrowed his eyes for some reason. "We saw this woman dashing across the roof. We decided to give chase, and we caught up with her here." Ironwood nodded.

"Then she got away." He answered for the boy.

Sun looked away. "Yeah..." He looked ashamed of himself. Ruby looked equally ashamed of herself.

"I think you two did excellently," Ironwood said. They both looked up in surprise. "You recognized a problem and worked together in order to solve the issue. That's the mark of true potential." He finished.

Ruby looked moved almost to tears, and Sun looked proud of himself. "Thank you, sir!" They said at the same time.

Ironwood nodded and started to walk out the door, into the stairwell. "I'll make sure this mystery woman doesn't cause too much trouble. You two, enjoy the rest of your night." He told them. "You'll both have meetings with Ozpin and I tomorrow, so get some rest." With that, he walked out, and into the stairwell.

Ruby and Sun looked at each other. "So, what now?" Sun asked.

"Well, I don't really feel like heading back to the dance." She said. "I'm hungry, but the Cafeteria is closed..."

"I got snacks in my room," Sun said. "Everyone else probably won't get back for another hour or two." He then gave her a toothy smile. "Plus, I've got a DustBox we can play."

That caused Ruby to smile. "What are we waiting for then?" With that, they started towards the elevator.

* * *

Yang had been tearing up the dance floor for a while now. She finished dancing with Blake a long time ago and allowed Vomit-Boy to dance with her again, this time sporting a dress. She had then decided to take about ten minutes to ask herself how that had happened, before just putting it out of her mind, and going back to dance.

It wasn't until now, when most people began leaving, that she realized that she hadn't seen Ruby or Sun for about an hour or two now. _'They probably just got tired, and left.'_ She tried to convince herself, but no matter how much she told herself that, she couldn't shake a small lingering feeling she had.

Taiyang had already given the two of them 'The Talk', but to think her baby sister would actually- NO! She would not continue down this line of thought. Besides, would Ruby really do that? Of course not. Right?

Weiss and Neptune were still here, and there were two possible locations to check first. With that in mind, Yang walked over to the exhausted couple.

"Hey, Yang... What's up?" Neptune asked tiredly.

"Have either of you seen your partners?" She asked both of them. They thought for a moment, before shaking their heads. "Okay, then you two will join me in the hunt!"

"The Hunt?" Weiss asked.

"I gotta find my sister! She could be back in our dorm, or she could be somewhere else. She's also your partner, so in other words. She's also your responsibility." Weiss didn't look happy with that explanation, but oh well. Neptune looked equally upset.

"Yang, it's almost 2 am." He said.

"Exactly!" She replied. The pair groaned in response. They must have realized how futile arguing with Yang was at this point. "Onward and Forward!" She yelled, before marching out of the Gym.

The trio first checked places they likely wouldn't be, despite Weiss' protests. Yang knew they likely would only be in one of there two dorms if they were together, she just felt like annoying Weiss.

Why?

She's Weiss.

After a while, Yang finally led them back to the dorms. They first checked the RWBY dorm, and when they didn't find anything, they headed to the SSSN dorm.

Yang began mentally preparing herself. This would play out one of two ways. Either her mind was truly being overactive, and she was worrying about nothing, or Ruby wouldn't be allowed to eat strawberries for the rest of her time in Beacon, and there would be a dead monkey.

They arrived at the door, and the moment of truth was officially upon them. Neptune stepped forth and unlocked the door. He then slowly opened the door.

It was dark in the room, and it appeared there was no one else in there. Sage and Scarlet were still in the Gym, so there was a possibility that there was truly nobody in there. Yang walked forward and was about to call a false alarm until she noticed a clump on the floor.

Neptune flicked on the lights, and what the trio saw, would stay in their memories for the rest of time.

Mostly because Yang immediately snapped a picture of it.

The pair was currently passed out on the floor, with DustBox controllers next to them.

Weiss took one look at this and sighed. "I'm too tired for this." She said to herself and then left the room. Actually, it's more accurate to say she stormed out. Yang chuckled to herself at this and then hoisted Ruby up over her shoulder. Neptune decided it was easier to just leave Sun laying on the floor and just went to his bed.

Yang then walked out with Ruby over her shoulder. She took a small glance at Ruby. "You've really grown up, you know that?" She said to her, a little downtrodden. She then released a short laugh and said, "I remember when you refused to leave your room after dad gave us the talk. You just kept screaming about how 'icky' he was." Yang looked at her sister with a nostalgic smile on her face.

In her sleep, Ruby held onto Yang tighter, and released a small "hmm." Yang leaned her head against her and continued walking.

* * *

 **And that's that. I really enjoy this ending. It gave me the little joy hops while writing it.**

 **On a different note, sorry this took a little longer to come out. In the middle of writing this, my computer broke, and I had to get a new one. Then I realized that I had to re-write this entire chapter, I started putting it off and all that other stuff.**

 **Eventually, I sat my lazy butt down and made it. I made the ending extra syrupy sweet to make myself feel better about this whole situation.**

 **In hindsight, it wasn't actually too, too long of a time, but it felt like an extremely long one. I'm rambling at this point, so I'll just end this note here.**


	5. Chapter 5

"Miss Rose?"

Said girl turned around, and saw Ozpin, Glynda, and Ironwood staring her down. "Please do try to be discreet about this matter." Ozpin said. She nodded and walked out the room.

She had just gotten done with a meeting Ozpin had called her up for. It was general stuff, with them asking about the intruder of the previous night, and stuff like that. It wasn't to big of a deal for her.

She stepped into the elevator, and reminded herself not to press all the buttons this time. She was late for her meeting because of that, and none of the teachers were happy. She also heard some yelling from within the elevator, and may or may not have been a little intimidated by it.

The elevator arrived at the ground floor, and Ruby walked out only to right run into Sun.

"Oh! Sorry about that. I was a little distracted." She said.

"It's cool," he said and gave a small wave while entering the elevator. He was on his way up to Ozpin's office as well, due to also having a meeting with him. Most likely, it was about the same stuff hers was. What the bad guy looked like, did she have anyone with her, blah blah blah. It was still early in the morning, on a weekend. She didn't feel like listening to teachers right now. She sighed to herself and continued walking.

She walked the halls, but with nothing keeping her company, she was left alone with her thoughts. In the mornings, her thoughts often betrayed her. As they were doing now.

 _'Sun's chest felt nice.'_ A small part of her thought. Her face was immediately lit up, and she tried to stop thinking about stuff like that. When that failed, she tried to think about other stuff.

Unfortunately for her, 'other stuff' was stuff criminals were doing. Like whh Torchwick would have access to a Mech, or who the mysterious girl really was, aside from the woman who attacked her the night she met Ozpin.

 _'I wonder if Sun would help me hunt them down if I asked.'_ She then stopped for a minute. _'Who am I kidding? He helped Blake when she was after the White Fang, why wouldn't he help me?'_ She then stopped for another minute. _'Unless I'm not good enough? Wait, would that mean that he likes Blake more than me? Of course, he does, we've barely even spoken outside of the dance. Or maybe he was just being nice, and actually doesn't like me. Oooohhh, why is this so difficult?'_ She complained internally and would have continued if she hadn't reached her room.

She sighed to herself and tried to get such treacherous thoughts out of her head. _'What would Dad say if he could hear me right now?'_ She asked herself. She didn't need to see the future in order to see herself getting either grounded, of given 'The Talk' again. She shuddered to think about it.

She opened the door, and was immediately barraged with questions, in a not-so dissimilar way to when she asked Sun out.

Yang barely stopped moving before asking "What happened?"

"How did it go!?" Weiss screamed.

"What did you tell him?" Blake asked.

"Well uh, heh heh? She nervously asked/said. She began to explain what all had happened. From what she remembered of the night, to Ironwood congratulating her and Sun.

"And then you fell asleep in your boyfriends arms." Yang said mockingly.

"P- He- I- What! Yang! That's not what happened." Ruby sputtered, face growing redder by the second. "I didn't fall asleep in his arms! I just sorta laid down, and he did too and we fell asleep. That's it!" her face was the same shade as her hood by this point.

"Sure~" She said, drawing out the word to epic proportions.

"Besides, I wouldn't tell the teachers I fell asleep in Sun's room." Ruby defended.

"Then what exactly did you tell them after the story?" Blake asked prudently.

"I kinda snuck in the part about the hideout in the south-east." Ruby said.

"Well, that was a risky move." Weiss told her.

"No, I think you handled it well." Blake replied.

"I hope so..." Ruby said, a bit melancholy. Yang put a hand on her shoulder, and she turned to look at her, only to see a small, cylindrical package. "What's that?" Ruby asked Yang.

"Hm?" She turned to look at what Ruby was looking at. "Oh, that's a package from home! It arrived when you were in the meeting."

"Ohh! Something from home!" Ruby zipped over and took hold of it.

"I was waiting for you so we could open it together." Yang told her. Without even waiting for further explanation, Ruby opened up one end of the package, and out popped a small mass of fur. It quickly uncurled itself, and looked right at Ruby, before barking at her.

"ZWEI!" She screamed, before wrapping said corgi up in her arms, and cuddling with him.

"Your family sent a dog, through the mail?" Weiss asked indignantly.

"Dad does this stuff all the time," Yang said simply. She then noticed a letter had fallen out along with Zwei, and a bunch of dog food. She picked it up and began reading it aloud. "Dear girls, I have to leave Patch for a mission near Vale. I'm sending Zwei for you to take care of while I'm out. If all goes well, I should be able to come visit soon. Love, Taiyang."

Ruby gasped. "Dad's gonna come visit us!?" She asked with a huge smile on her face. She then began cheering, tossing Zwei around. It didn't even faze the dog.

Blake, who had been eyeing the dog suspiciously since he popped out, decided to speak up. "Well all that aside, all we have to do, is find a mission that will take us to the south-east." She said to her team.

"Yeah! Too bad the mission assignments had to be pushed back until next week." Ruby said. Her team stared at her with wide eyes and a confused glare in Weiss' case. "Did I forget to tell you all?" They nodded slowly. "Oops, heh, well because of the break in during the Dance, and how most Second-Years aren't done with their missions yet, the Headmaster told me that our missions will have to wait a bit." She told them, setting Zwei down on the ground to bother Blake.

"Damn." Yang said. "But, what if that whole mission in the south-east the White Fang were talking about is over by then?" She asked intensely.

"I guess we'll just have to hope we can catch it in time." Weiss said to her.

The air in the room was thick, and everyone refused to speak. Hopefully things would turn out fine. Hopefully.

Zwei was sitting in the middle of the room, and noticed the melancholic expressions on everyone's face. He decided to try and dispel the mood the only way he could. He walked over to Ruby, still standing by the desk, and looked up at her. She looked down at him, and he jumped from where he was standing into her arms, and licked her face.

"Pffft, Zwei!" He responded by licking her face again. "Ugh, fine." Everyone in the room just laughed at this. Ruby looked down at Zwei, who was still licking her face and smiled.

 _'I wonder if Sun would like him?'_ It took her second to realize what she just thought, but when she did, she nearly dropped Zwei. _'DAMN YOU BRAIN!'_

* * *

 **That's that. I had to finagle around with the timeline a bit here. Seriously, they go on their missions the day after the Dance. Right after a serious breach in security as well.**

 **It doesn't make any sense.**

 **Also, since you guys asked for it so much, Taiyang will be making an appearance. Not Qrow just yet, but rest assured he will be in the story eventually.**


	6. Chapter 6

_'Damn'_ Sun thought to himself. _'I was really looking forward to that mission we were supposed to get.'_

He was currently headed to the Beacon Forge. He had visited his team after finishing his meeting with the headmaster and told them the bad news. Not too long after, there was an announcement about it over the intercom, and the fallout was obvious. Many students were none too happy about it and started complaining, some even starting fights. Glynda didn't take kindly to this and shut most of them up. She also told those students that they specifically had lessons for the week.

However, it was when one kid tried to attack him when he left to go to lunch, that Sun noticed that Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang was damaged. He reached for the Staff and saw that the barrel was dented. It had been a while since he had the chance to do weapon maintenance, so after Glynda disarmed the attacker, Sun said goodbye to his team and headed off to the forge.

If only he knew where it was.

The main reason he wasn't able to do any maintenance was that he had no idea where the forge itself was. It also didn't seem important enough at the time to go out of his way to ask some random student where to go. So he was now lost looking for it, with not a single person in sight to ask. He tried going to the courtyard to look.

He looked right. _'Giant spire'_

He looked left. _'Giant spire'_

He looked forward. _'Another giant spire.'_

He looked around again. More spires. _'WHERE THE HELL AM I!?'_ He looks behind to try and find his way back inside, but he made a turn along his way here, and now can't find the door. _'Is this how I die?'_ He thought to himself. He drooped down in defeat and was about to wail and give up hope when he was saved by the bell. Or in this case, saved by the speeding red bullet surrounded by roses.

"Oof!" Said speeding bullet crashed right into him. She fell down right in front of him and said, "Ugh! Why do I keep running into things?" She looked up when she heard chuckling from above her.

"You know Ruby if you keep doing this, I might think you're doing it on purpose," Sun said to her. He then held out his hand to help her up.

"Sorry Sun. I was just a little distracted. I was looking for my dog, 'cause he just disappeared-and-I wasn't-really-watching-where-I-wasgoingandthenIendeduphereand-"

"Ruby!" She was speaking so fast it was hard to keep up. "Calm down. What happened?"

"Well, my dog just disappeared and I don't know where he went." She replied meekly.

"Oh, I'll help you look," Sun said.

"Really? But you look like you were doing something." She said worryingly. "I don't want to distract you or anything." She looked down to the ground while she said this.

"Nah, it's fine. It wasn't that important." He looked her in the eye. She obviously didn't believe him. He sighed. "Fine, if it means that much to you, you can help me after we find your dog." He said begrudgingly. She gave a small little cheer at that, that he couldn't help but find adorable. "Where'd you last see it?"

"My Dad sent pills for us to give him and as soon as he saw them, he bolted." She told him.

Sun put his hand to his chin, turned away, and brought his voice lower to sound gruffer. "So he's likely hiding then, huh?" He then turned back to Ruby and said, "Bring me to places you like to frequent."

She gave a small confused grunt before standing tall, giving a mock salute, and saying, "Yes sir!" She then turned around and marched onward with Sun following her.

 _'This'll be easy.'_ Sun thought.

* * *

"HOW IS THIS SO HARD!?" Sun screamed at the increasingly dark sky. He and Ruby were out by the statue looking for the small corgi.

"It's getting dark," Ruby said to herself. "I guess we're gonna have to call it here." She looked about ready to cry. She then turned to Sun. "Sorry. I distracted you this whole time." She then walked back into the main building itself dejectedly.

Sun sighed to himself and slumped down in defeat. _'I feel like I messed up somehow.'_ He then began trudging over to the bench by the front of the statue. He stayed there for a couple minutes before looking up at the statue. _'I should still keep looking though!'_ He looked up in determination. _'I can still see in the dark so-'_ He wasn't able to finish that thought due to a sharp pain coursing through his tail. "YEOW!" He cried out as he panicked, and looked back at his tail.

That was when he saw it. Attached to his tail, hanging by the golden threads was a small gray corgi. His eyes went wide as he immediately went to grab the animal. He tried pulling him off, but that only damaged his tail further. "You're making this really difficult. You know that?" He said while trying to ignore the constant pain.

The dog whined in return.

Sun tried to flick his tail to fling the offending corgi off, but that just resulted in more pain. He grumbled "Fine! I'm taking you to Ruby though." He told him pointing an accusatory finger at him. He then began walking back to the main building, trying to forget the constant pain carrying a dog by his tail was bringing him.

He noticed on his way that nobody else was out. Ruby must have already made it back to her room. After several excruciating moments of torture, Sun finally made it to the team RWBY dorm. He knocked on the door, and it opened nearly instantly to Ruby standing there.

"Sun? What are-" She paused for a minute, before asking, "What's wrong? Are you okay?" She was looking right up into his face.

Instead of replying, Sun just simply puts his tail out in front of him. "I found him." He squeaked out.

"ZWEI!" Ruby grabbed the dog and tried to wrap him up in a hug, but all she got instead, was a yelp from Sun. "Huh?" She took another look and noticed him attaching himself to the Faunus. She then looked at his face, and notice some tears start to form under his eyes. "Oh! I'm so sorry Sun, I didn't realize!" She frantically yelled out. By this point, she had grabbed the attention of the other three people in the room.

"Ruby?" Yang called. "What's up?" She then looked at Zwei, being half held by Ruby. "Zwei! You're back!" She then reached to grab him, only to get her hand slapped by Ruby. "Hey!" Ruby pointed at the corgi, and only then did Yang notice that he was latching onto Sun. She then leaned over and stared right at her pet. "I got it!" She hit her fist to her palm and turned to Sun. "Come right on in!" She then pushed Sun into the dorm and closed the door.

"Wait! Aren't you going to get him off of me?" He asked while being pushed. He was shoved into the center of the room, only for Yang to make a 'don't move' hand motion and run into the bathroom. He shot Ruby a questioning glance and she just shrugged. A second later Yang returned, a pill in hand.

She quickly ran up to Zwei and shoved the pill in his mouth that was still open biting Sun's tail. The dog freaked out, and released Sun's tail then spent some time gagging on the floor, before walking over to Weiss for comfort.

"There ya' go!" Yang said, patting him on the back. "All better now."

"I told you that dog was evil," Blake said from her bed.

"Oh, you're just saying that Blake. Liven up a little!" Yang replied.

"But he was just attached to Sun! What if he does the same to me?"

"Aw. Is little Blakey scared of a small lil' pup?"

"What?! I didn't say that! I was just saying that the dog is evil!"

Sun was about to agree with Blake until he felt something touching his tail. It felt... really good. He looked behind him to see Ruby stroking it. She was just staring at it while doing so. She seemed to be lost in a trance or something. "Ruby?" He said without thinking.

She jumped a little at her name being called and quickly looked upward before panicking. "I'm so sorry! ItlookedkindahurtandIwasgoingtotryandhelpitfeelbetterbutitwasjustreallysoftand-"

'Knock knock'

There was a knocking at the door and Yang hopped over and answered. "Have you guys seen Sun around?" It was Scarlet.

"I'm here." He said before Yang could reply.

"We've got a situation." He told him.

Sun looked him in the eyes. "Neptune?"

"Neptune." He nodded.

"Pool?"

"Pool."

Sun sighed to himself and shook his head. He slipped his tail out of Ruby's grip and waved to them. "Alright guys, I'll see you tomorrow." With that, he left the room.

There was silence in the room for a good while before Yang spoke to Weiss. "Weiss?"

"Hm?"

"Your boyfriend's kind of a wuss."

"Yes, I realize."

* * *

 **We're done. Finally.**

 **I was stuck at a couple hundred words for an entire week without an idea of what to do, and this is the result.**

 **Kind of a mess really.**


	7. Chapter 7

"Hey, Nep!" Sun called out. "You feelin' any better?" He asked him. Neptune was currently laying face down on his bed, and Sun was crouched on his. It was currently just before noon, and Sun was getting hungry, so he is now trying to wake up Neptune.

"Grbahabr." He excellently responded.

"How'd you end up in the middle of the pool in the first place?" Sun leaned in a bit, tail twitching in curiosity.

"Brbahgalrbl."

"Well then maybe, you shouldn't make fun of him." Sun hopped off his bed and headed for the door. "Alright, well I'm grabbing some food. If you need me, you know where to look." He then ran back over, realizing he almost left Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang on his desk, then left the room. _'Gotta make sure I repair these today. No distractions.'_ When he made it to a window, Sun looked out trying to find the Forge. He released a defeated sigh when he couldn't spot it. _'All these damn buildings look the same.'_ He continued to slump down the halls until he (almost literally) bumped into team RWBY.

Ruby looked surprised for a second, before she exclaimed, "Hey Sun! What are you doing?"

"Oh... well I was looking for the forge." He explained.

"The forge!?" Ruby suddenly cried out, getting excited. "Is this related to what you were doing yesterday?"

"Yeah, I was going to do some maintenance, but I have no idea where it even is," Sun told her warily. He wasn't sure if the way her eyes widened all of a sudden was a good or bad sign.

Without a second thought, Ruby ran up to him, exclaimed "I'll take you there!" and started dragging him down the halls.

The remaining members of Team RWBY were then left to take in what just happened. "Poor boy's signed himself up for a death warrant," Weiss mumbled.

"Oh come on," Yang said while patting her back, to which she shuffled slightly away from. "My sister's not that bad. This is just her first love!" She then turned to Blake. "Looks like you got some competition Blakey!" In response, Blake rolled her eyes and went back to reading the book in her hands. "Oh wait! You're more interested in the noodle, aren't you?" Blake's head slightly shifted, just barely enough for Yang to notice. She let loose a big chuckle, then a dreamy sigh. "Love is in the air, isn't it?" She asked the two girls, who were now ignoring her. She continued to daydream for a second, before she came to a realization. "Wait... who does that leave for me?" She asked herself, as the monochromatic duo started to walk away from her.

* * *

"Here we are!" Ruby exclaimed, holding her hands above her head pointing at the giant spire in front of her.

"Are you sure?" He asked. She replied by giving him a flat expression. "I mean, everything looks the same around here. Just checking." He told her with his hands held in front of him, and a nervous smile on his face.

Ruby relaxed a little, and she turned to enter. "Yeah, I know how you feel. Guess I just learned my way around after awhile." She said without turning. "We still got a while before you have to go back. You'll find your way around with no problem." She turned, and gave him a thumbs up, then entered the building.

Sun followed closely and was amazed when he got inside. It looked like a normal forge except that it was mega-sized, with many working stations. Each working station had a furnace, anvil, and workbench. Ruby led him over to a station that was placed in the far back, that seemed to be used often. "This is the place where I like to tinker." She informed him. "I used to do it in my dorm, but Weiss kept yelling at me about oil stains, and loud noises." Sun inspected the workbench and noticed small compartments along the side of it. "Those are where we put materials we'll be using during the build, and all the tools we'll be needing. All the materials are over there." She told him, pointing to the back left corner of the room, where nearly the entire area was filled with all types of metals, alloys, gemstones, or anything else he could conceive might be useful for forging. "So what are we working with?"

"Wait, we?" Sun eyed her confusedly.

"Of course! I like to tinker a bit. A whole lot of weapons are just so cool!" Ruby began gushing. "Like Crescent Rose! It's just so cool how it's both a sniper rifle and scythe at the same time. I can go long range, or close range so I have a ton of options, plus the black and red colors look so cool, and it matches my outfit! Does yours match your outfit too? What does it look like? Show me!" She was practically bouncing from excitement at this point. She was getting right up in Sun's personal space, about to reach behind him and grab his weapon for him, eyes sparkling.

"It looks like this!" Sun exclaimed while pulling out the collapsed form of Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang from under his shirt and laying it on the workbench. He then unfurled the weapon into Bo Staff form. He then grabbed a screwdriver and started unscrewing some of the screws. "We just need to do some minor maintenance. Since I have to attack with the staff, it does get some small dents in it, and those dents make it harder for me to aim my shots when it's in Nunchaku form. I have to get the dents out and it's easier to do it when it's like this." Sun's seemed to realize something, then started looking around, like he lost something. "Hey, Ruby?" He turned to her. "Could you real quick run and grab some water?"

"Will do!" She sped off, in a burst of rose petals, before flashing back in, carrying a container of water. "You probably don't need so much, but just in case." She said before placing it on the workbench.

"Thanks!" He then began to ask her something else, but she answered before he had the chance.

"Cup plungers are in the second compartment from the front." Sun reached in and grabbed two plungers.

"Thanks again." He then handed the second plunger to her, and they got to work. "Wait. You do know how to do this, right?"

"Of course I do." She said indignantly. "Like I said earlier, Crescent Rose is part sniper rifle, so if the barrel is dented even a little, the aim is completely thrown off." She crossed her arms and gave him a small glare that held little actual meaning.

"Right. Okay then, let's do this!" He cheered.

"Yeah!" Ruby joined in. The pair enthusiastically splashed some water on both the side of the weapon they had, and the plunger, and began pumping out the dents. Despite how enthusiastic Sun was, this was always his least favorite part of having a weapon like his. Pumping dents out is always tedious, and not very fun. Ruby, on the other hand, was having a blast. Pumping dents was relaxing to her, and the menial task always gave her a chance to think about things closely. Such as the expression she saw on Sun's face, which wasn't one of relaxation or happiness. At best it was neutral. _'He must not enjoy this then...'_ She thought a little glumly. She then quickly tried to recover. _'Oh well. Not many people really do...'_ Her recovery attempt mostly failed, but she ignored her feelings for now. _'Maybe some small talk will help!'_ Ruby opened her mouth to begin speaking but realized something dire. She didn't know how to do small talk.

While Ruby started to panic a small bit, Sun realized something was off with her. "Ruby?" She perked up and looked at him. "You've probably got that dent out by now, you know." He told her with a small smile. In response, she looked down and noticed that she had been pumping the same dent for a while now.

"Oh! Right, thank you, Sun!" She gave him a grin while switching over to another dent. Sun eyed her suspiciously.

"You okay?" He asked her.

"Hm?" She looked at him surprised, before responding, "Oh, yeah. I'm fine. I was just looking for something to talk about, I guess." She chuckled to herself abashedly, before turning back to the half of Jingu Bang she had.

Sun pondered for a moment, before saying, "That's fine."

Ruby perked up again, this time confused. "What? But Yang always says that in these kind of situations, I should talk with the other person, and get to know them better." She explained to him, facing him and no longer even working on getting out any dents.

"Yeah. That's what Yang says." Ruby just sent an even more confused glance at him, so he elaborated. "Yang isn't Ruby. Maybe she can talk to any stranger, and befriend them as soon as the conversation is done, but you're not Yang. Don't get me wrong, but I don't see you as someone who can just go up to someone, and talk their ear off." He flashed her a grin. "Personally, I prefer the quieter girls anyway." He said without thinking. He then realized what he said, and blushed while quickly getting back to work.

 _'Why's he blushing like that?'_ Ruby thought. _'Of course, he likes Blake, it's obvious. Ooohhh, maybe it's because I'm her teammate.'_ She thought, ignoring the pang of pain she felt when she imagined Blake and Sun together. She couldn't make sense of why she felt like that, so it was just easier. She broke out of her musings to notice that Sun seemed to be waiting for her to respond. "Thanks, Sun! You really know how to make me feel better." She offered, and Sun seemed to relax a little.

The pair quickly settled back into silence, and this time it was comfortable for both. Just the rhythmic pressing and pulling to get the dents out, and nothing else. Sun was surprisingly less bored than he would be normally. He wasn't sure why, but he just felt less bored, and more inexplicably content. Not happy exactly, but calm instead. It was under these conditions, that the pair finished the last repairs quicker than Sun expected. Usually, it took Sun a good couple hours to finish, not one. He just shrugged it off and began the process of putting Jingu Bang and Ruyi Bang back together.

"So..." Ruby began. Sun turned his head slightly to tell her he was listening while still looking at his weapon. "Would you mind having a spar with me?"

"Huh? Why?"

"Oh, uh... well, I've never seen your weapon in action up close, and, uh..." She trailed off while looking around.

Sun thought about it for a moment, before saying, "Sure!" Ruby started bouncing with excitement, and Sun just chuckled.

* * *

Sun and Ruby stood facing the other in one of the unused practice rooms. Their weapons were drawn, and they were watching the other carefully. After a beat, Ruby used her Semblance and dashed forward. Sun quickly replied by holding his Bo Staff in front of him. Crescent Rose came down from above Sun, and he jumped backward, just narrowly avoiding getting sliced in half. Ruby gave him no chance and quickly rushed him again. This time, however, Sun was expecting it and reached out with his leg to trip her. She hopped over it, but continued flying slightly too far, and fell out of range. Sun took this chance to fly at her, swinging his staff. She turned around and noticed this, before bursting away leaving Sun to be confused and look around for her. He turned fully around and saw her rushing at him, so he quickly slammed the end of Jingu Bang on the ground, and fired a shot, sending out a shockwave that knocked Ruby away.

Ruby recovered, and yelled out, "That was awesome!" Before jumping right back into the spar.

"You think that's awesome?" Sun asked, before transforming his weapon into Twin Nunchaku form, and running up to Ruby.

"Ooooo... What can that form do?" Ruby asked in between slashes. She sent one last slash out, but slightly over-extended, leaving her open. Sun took the opportunity, and wrapped one of his Nunchaku around Crescent Rose's hilt. He then took his other one, and hit Ruby with it, flinging her away and leaving her weapon embedded in the ground. "Uh oh..." She mumbled, while meekly putting her fists up. She watched Sun circling her weapon, and waited until she saw his attention turn to the door. She paid it no mind, seeing it as an opportune time to strike, so she ran forward, fists at the ready. She launched a punch and completely whiffed, but she was also headed right towards her weapon. Sun noticed this last second, and swiped at her with his tail. It hit her, and Ruby once again flew to the side of the arena. Luckily for her though, she was able to grab onto Crescent Rose before getting launched. She slowed herself down by firing opposite to herself, and managed to get a foothold, before Sun launched himself at her. He was hitting her with his Nunchaku, and was entirely too close for Ruby to use her scythe, so she turned her scythe around, and stabbed at him with the sharp pommel. Sun jumped backwards a little bit, getting right into perfect range. Ruby began slashing over and over again, forcing Sun to back step each time. Sun kept backing up, until he ended up tripping. His weapons flew into the air, and landed off the stage, leaving him practically defenseless.

Ruby readied up to slash at him while he was on the ground, but Sun quickly swiped at her legs with his tail. It all went according to his plan.

Almost.

Crescent Rose also flew from Ruby's hand, but instead of falling backward like Sun planned, Ruby fell forward.

On to him.

Ruby wasn't expecting this, so she wasn't able to catch her self on time. She quickly lifted herself up, pressing her hands into Sun's chest. As soon as she did though, she seemed to forget what was happening. She just stared blankly at Sun, not realizing what was going on. "Uh... Ruby?"

"..."

"Ruby?"

"..."

"Hello?"

There was then a small click from the viewing area, before raucous laughter. That seemed to snap Ruby out of whatever trance she was in, and she quickly jumped away from Sun. She looked out into the audience, and saw Yang sitting there, holding her Scroll out in front of her. "Yang!? How long have you been there?!" She screamed out, face as red as her cape.

"Long enough." She replied mirthfully. "Please, continue. Just ignore me. I'm not here." She said mockingly.

"What do you want?" Ruby asked flatly, still just as red.

"I was just going to ask where you put Zwei."

"I gave him to Jaune to watch, now can you just leave?"

"Alright, fine." Yang said, holding her hands up in front of her face. She walked to the door, before turning around and yelling out, "Don't let dad find out!" She then fully left, humming to herself.

The pair stood there awkwardly for a moment, before Ruby said, "Sorry about her."

"Oh no, it's fine," Sun told her, before moving to look at his weapon. He inspected it and noticed the long drop from when he fell must have dented it. He hung his head and sighed. Ruby was inspecting Crescent Rose meanwhile and also noticed how the hilt was lightly dented as well. The two looked at each other. They looked at the look on each other's faces, before bursting out laughing. "Heh, well, looks like it's back to the forge for us," Sun said. Ruby nodded, still chuckling when she heard a small growl. She looked at Sun and noticed him looking at his stomach. "I might have forgotten to eat Breakfast- er Lunch technically." He offered.

This prompted Ruby to check the time, and when she did, she realized it was 3:48. She gasped, and Sun gave her a confused look after he put his weapon back beneath his shirt. "We only have ten minutes left before they put away the strawberries!" She shouted while grabbing Sun's hand, and dragging him to the Cafeteria.

Sun sighed and shook his head, before running along with her.

* * *

 **So I guess you guys like this story, based on the reviews I got in my absence. Speaking of which, sorry about disappearing for a month and a half. Long story short, procrastination and finals.**

 **I finish my finals on the 19th, so normal updates will likely resume around then.**

 **If I stop procrastinating that is...**


	8. Chapter 8

It started off as a small, warm feeling. There was nothing inherently special about it. It was similar to how she felt when she was around Jaune. Just another guy friend that her body kept yelling at her to get closer to. Easy to ignore, and not that important.

Then it turned into something else. It felt warmer and softer even. Similar to what she felt around Yang, but at the same time different. It felt like a combination of her feelings surrounding Yang, and the feeling she got when she gave Crescent Rose a brand new modification.

Ever since the incident of yesterday that both her brain and Yang refused to let her forget, that feeling exploded into feathers tickling the inside of her stomach whenever she thought of him. Of course, she knew what this feeling was supposed to mean, but she just couldn't believe it.

She can't actually have a crush on Sun, can she?

 _'That's absurd.'_ Ruby thought to herself. She wasn't designed for that kind of thing.

…

Right?

 _'Maybe I should ask Yang...'_ Despite all the teasing that could result from it, she knew Yang would help her with this much at least. She wasn't malicious. Plus, she helped her all the time with confusing feelings, so this shouldn't be any different. So, Ruby began searching for her sister.

It should have been easy.

And it was.

All she had to do was follow the trail of destruction. _'Yang, what did you do!?'_ She finally managed to find her sister in one of the classrooms with... Neptune? Why was he here?

"And that is how you win when all odds are against you!" He cheered.

Ruby was just standing in the entrance, eyes wide, and mouth agape. She heard footsteps frantically beating behind her, and when she turned to look, her heart began beating a little faster. "Hey, Ruby! Have you seen Neptune..." Sun trailed off as he looked into the room she was standing in front of. The pair of Neptune and Yang noticed the two team leaders standing at the doorway, and they gave a silent cheer. There plan might actually work. They looked at each other when they heard an angry stomping from down the hall that distracted their leaders, and they then hid beneath the untouched teacher's desk.

"Ms. Rose! Mr. Wukong! Can you explain to me exactly what happened here!?" Came the angry voice of one Glynda Goodwitch.

"Oh! Well, you see..." Ruby faltered, and Sun picked up.

"Well, Neptune disappeared not too long ago, and I was looking for him. I walked down the halls, but they were damaged, and when I got here I saw Nep and Yang- Huh!? Where'd they go!?" Sun yelled. Ruby looked too but noticed they were gone. "They were just here, they couldn't have gone far! You saw them too, right Ruby?" Said girl frantically nodded, and was just about to say so, until they heard Glynda clear her throat.

"Detention! Both of you! Now!" She commanded, then grabbed the two with her Semblance, and walked to her classroom.

"Think they'll be happy with us?" Neptune asked Yang.

"They'll thank us." She responded. "I mean, they get to spend at least the next hour together, probably more."

* * *

"I can't believe them!" Sun whisper-shouted. "They totally did this on purpose! They wanted to get us in trouble! There's no other reason for those two specifically to get together and make trouble." He and Ruby were currently sitting next to each other in a classroom, overseen by Professor Port. Glynda was cleaning up the hallways.

"We're going to do something, right?" Ruby whispered back.

"Obviously." Sun leaned in a little closer. "How will we do it?"

"I've got some plans for Yang, what do you get for Neptune?"

"I can think of something. Let's head into town tomorrow, once we actually have time."

Ruby nodded her head before she began pondering something. "Quick question." Ruby leaned in a little closer as well. "Is Neptune's hair naturally blue?"

"Yeah... Why?"

"Just wondering."

The pair quickly ran out of things to talk about after that. Well, less 'ran out' and more got distracted. At this point, they were just staring at each other. Into each other's eyes to be exact. They weren't sure exactly how long it went on, but it was long enough that Glynda came back, and once again grabbed their attention by clearing her throat. They noticed what they were doing, and both quickly looked away blushing.

"Upon further deliberation, it seems you two really are innocent." The teacher told them. When they looked at her confused, she continued, "Unless either of you is punchers, or have weapons that can produce electricity I'm unaware of?" When both team leaders shook their heads, Glynda finished. "Okay, you're free to go."

Ruby and Sun wasted no time in leaving. They were still blushing, and not really looking at each other.

"Damn it!"

"No wait, it worked. Look at them."

"You're right! High five!"

"Did you hear something?" Sun asked Ruby. She shook her head in response. "Ah well. Hey, since we have time now, how 'bout we head into Vale now?"

 _'Head into Vale? Like a date- NO! Stop brain. Don't do this to me.'_ Ruby thought to herself. _'Calm Ruby, calm... You're just going into Vale, with Sun, alone... ugh, just accept me!'_ "Yeah, sure." She said as calmly as she could muster.

"Oh, well, if you don't want to go, you can just tell me."

"NO! I MEAN YES!" She panicked. She panicked hard.

"Are you alright? Running a fever maybe?" Sun stepped closer, in order to try to check for a fever, but Ruby stepped back. "Your face is seriously red. Maybe this could wait 'til tomorrow, once you're feeling better?" He tried once again.

"Sun, I'm fine. We can head into Vale, I'm not sick." She assured him, face still crimson.

Sun thought about it for a moment but eventually said, "Okay, if you're sure. If you start to feel bad, let me know, okay?" Ruby nodded, and the two turned to leave for the docking bay.

The journey was awkward for the both of them. Ruby was still doing flips and circles in her mind. Sun, meanwhile, was barely able to hold his composure better than Ruby. _'Okay! This is my chance to spend more time with Ruby! I got this! It'll be just fine!'_ Sun repeated these words in his head the entire trip in the Bullhead as if chanting. The journey was actually entirely silent between the two, due to the pair constantly reminding themselves not to mess this up.

When the Bullhead landed, the pair was finally snapped out of their chants. "Uh, guess we're here." Ruby offered. They left the docking area and immediately began searching for the shops they needed. That's when Ruby spotted a Cafe. Normally, she wouldn't notice something like that and take special attention to it, but this time she was with Sun. The idea of a date was still jumbled around in her mind, and she was also craving something sweet. It's a win-win in her mind. Now, all she had to do, was somehow get Sun to go. She would have to ask him...

"H-hey, Sun." She began, without really thinking about it. He turned to her with a curious expression, and this suddenly became a whole lot harder. "Do you, uh, want to... maybe, uh, like go to that C-Cafe over there?" She eventually stuttered out. _'Ugh, why am I so bad at this?'_ She internally whined.

Sun looked at her with his eyes wide. "Yeah sure... are you sure you're okay, though?"

"One hundred percent!" She replied extremely quickly. "L-let's just go." And she began walking to the Cafe.

The pair walked in and immediately realized just how small the restaurant was. It wasn't necessarily cramped, but it was by no means large. It was pretty cozy. Right in front of the entrance was a small counter, with a young blond woman standing behind it. "Welcome!" She had a bright smile and pointed upwards. "All of our products and prices are listed up on that board." There was a nice assortment of most Breakfast and Lunch foods, along with small desserts, and of course, many blends of coffee. Everything from Espresso to Cappuccino to Mocha.

"Oh, crap..." Ruby muttered to herself. She was focused on getting dessert only, but it would feel like a waste to come to a Cafe, and not get some kind of coffee. "Sun." She quickly turned to get his attention, and she got it. "I need to know which coffee I would like!" Sun gave her a flat expression.

"You don't have to get coffee, you know."

"But we're in a Cafe! It would be weird not to."

"And you didn't think about this before?"

"Uh..." To be honest, she was just focused on getting here without her nerve breaking. She looked away from him, and he sighed.

"Okay, well you would probably like an Affogato." When she gave him a confused glance, he explained, "It's basically a scoop of ice cream surrounded by coffee."

"Ooohhh, that sounds good." She looked up at the board to find it. "Oof, and expensive."

"Don't worry, I'll pay," Sun said without thinking.

"What!? No! I can't make you do that. It's fine." She argued.

"But," He blushed and looked away. "I want to..."

Ruby's eyes went slightly wider, and she looked away. "Fine..." She shook that thought away and walked up to the counter. "Um, I would like a slice of strawberry cake and an Affogato." She told the woman.

"Got it, and what about your boyfriend?"

Ruby's thought process froze for a minute. _'B-boyfriend. I guess that's fine- NO! Bad Ruby!'_ Luckily for her, Sun stepped in.

"An egg sandwich, one Cappuccino, and a banana." He said, without trying to correct her.

"Okay. That will be nineteen twenty-four." Sun handed her a twenty, received his change, and stepped back. "Find a seat, your order will be with you momentarily." The two headed off to find a two person table. They found one right next to a window and began waiting.

"So, what're your plans for getting back at Neptune?" Ruby asked. She had been curious for a while, much like she assumed Sun was curious what she would do to Yang.

"Let's just say, there's going to be a need for the pool skimmer in the morning." He replied with a devious look on his face.

"Jeez Sun, isn't that a bit much?" Ruby asked in a not very serious manner.

"Eh, we **were** given detention with Ms. Goodwitch. He kinda has it coming. Besides, it's not like you're going to do much less to your sister." He gave a slight shrug, before leaning in, obviously expecting to hear what Ruby has in store.

Ruby didn't disappoint, as she released a sinister laugh, that was only intimidating if you knew that it was Ruby doing it. "I think Yang is due for a different hair color soon..." She said in a low voice. Low for Ruby standards, at least. She then remembered something. "Hey, if Yang asks, I didn't do it by the way."

"Uh, yeah sure..."

"Here's your order!" A lady at the side of their table said. She held both of their orders on a platter in her right hand. She set it on the table between the two, unloaded it, then took the small platter back with her. Ruby looked down at the cup in front of her. It was just like Sun had said. A clear cup with some coffee in it, and a spire if vanilla ice cream standing proud. She poked it with the small spoon it came with, then looked up at Sun.

He gave her a toothy grin. "Well? Go on."

She looked back down at her cup. _'Man, this really does feel like a date. Sun even paid for me and everything'_ She looked up again, and Sun was gesturing towards the Affogato.

 _'Screw it!'_ Ruby dug deep with her spoon, getting both ice cream and coffee. _'I'm counting this!'_ She decided as she took a bite.

* * *

 **Oh, Ruby. Little does she know that Sun also thought of this as a date.**

 **By the way, thanks for all the support guys. Honestly means a lot to me.**


	9. Chapter 9

All was calm that early morning. Ruby was still asleep, but the rest of her team was already up. Most surprising of the bunch was Yang, who also decided to wake up early for a change. She was currently brushing her hair. He beautiful, wonderful, glorious green hair.

...

Green?

Yang looked in the mirror and released a giant scream that shook Ruby into consciousness. Weiss and Blake looked towards the bathroom door, then at each other, before going up to it and knocking. "You okay Yang?" Blake asked through the door.

"Who did it?" Yang asked back in a low tone. By this time, Ruby was in front of the door, waiting until she could head in and get changed.

"Did what?" Weiss asked.

"THIS!" Yang screamed as she burst out the door. The trio watching began snorting and laughing. They couldn't help it. It's not every day you see Yang with green hair, the shade of which was not dissimilar to something a baby would spew from its mouth.

Yes. Yang Xiao Long had puke green hair.

"Wow, sis! Heh, looks like you're ready for the holidays!" Ruby chuckled out, pointing to her now red eyes, and green hair. Zwei, who was sitting next to her, barked in agreement.

"You..." Yang narrowed her eyes at her younger sister. "I saw you messing with my shampoo bottle last night!"

Ruby immediately stopped laughing, and wide-eyed her sister. "What!? You must be, uh, no. Why would I do that to my wonderful older sister?" She asked innocently.

Yang replied by slowly inching towards her. Ruby panicked and burst out of the room in a swarm of rose petals. "RUUUBYYYYYY!" Yang screamed after her.

Meanwhile, Sun was facing a not so dissimilar situation with an extremely wet Neptune. "Okay, so in hindsight, maybe setting you afloat in the middle of the pool wasn't a great idea, but that's what you get for getting me detention with Ms. Goodwitch." Neptune grabbed his weapon and stalked closer. "Right... well, I'll just be going then." He then ran out the door, and right into Ruby.

They stared each other in the eye for a second, before they heard the tell-tale signs of an angry Yang, or as Tai would put it, and Yangry. "Run!" Ruby screamed as the two heard a loud crash, and the sound of Weiss screaming. Sun looked back, and saw a lot of green, before realizing he probably didn't want to be near that, and running away.

The pair made it just out front of Beacon, before Ruby stopped, and looked back. Sun caught up, and asked, "So, what was that, and why was it chasing you?"

"Yang, and because she's angry for something I may, or may not have done." Sun gave her a flat look.

"It was your revenge, wasn't it?" Ruby stood still for a moment, before solemnly nodding. "Okay, you don't need to act all serious." She began to giggle, and Sun chuckled until he realized something. "Uh, Ruby...?" He trailed off.

"Hm?"

"Uh..." Sun looked down at her outfit, blushing slightly. "Maybe you should head back to your room. You know, to change?"

Ruby looked down at her clothes, and giggled in slight embarrassment, for she was still wearing her pajamas. "Hehehe... I was wondering why the ground felt so cold..." She tried to joke. It fell flat, however, as the atmosphere just became a little awkward.

Luckily for them, the awkwardness didn't last long, as when Ruby was looking around, trying to avoid eye-contact with Sun, she noticed something off in the distance. What looked to be a man, with scruffy blond hair, and blue eyes. "Wait a minute..." She looked closer. "Is that...?" She looked even closer.

"What is it, Ruby?" Sun asked.

"IT IS!" She cheered and then zoomed off towards the docking bay.

"Wha- RUBY! HEY WAIT UP!" He called after her, but she could no longer hear him, too focused on reaching the figure in front of her.

"Daaaaaaaaad" She cried as she finally reached him, using her Semblance and bursting right onto him.

"WHOA!" And knocking him down.

"Ah! Sorry, dad!" Ruby said hurriedly, before helping him back up, and grabbing some of the bags he was carrying.

"It's alright Rubes." He chuckled out, before picking up the rest of his bags that Ruby hadn't grabbed. He then looked back at her. "Hm? Did you just wake up?"

Ruby flinched, then looked at the ground sheepishly. "It's Yang's fault."

"What this time?" He asked flatly.

"RUBY!" Sun finally caught up, and panted a bit, before looking back up. "What gives!"

"Oop! Sorry Sun, I just got a bit excited when I saw my dad." She explained. Sun looked over to the man right next to her, with a curious expression. "Sun, this is my dad. Dad, this is my..." she hesitated for a second. "Uh, friend, Sun Wukong."

Tai nodded, and put down his bags. "Nice to meet you, Sun!" He extended his hand.

Sun took it with a start. "Oh! Nice to meet you, sir." They shook hands.

"Nah, none of that 'sir' stuff. Just Tai's fine."

"O-okay then Mr. Tai."

Tai looked at him for a second. "Eh, close enough." He then turned to Ruby. "You, need to get back to your room and change. Can't have you out in public in your pajamas, now can we?"

"No, dad." She said monotonously "I'll show you where my room is. You wanna join us Sun?"

Said Faunus looked surprised for a second, before taking Tai's bags that Ruby had been carrying. "I got nothing else to do." He told her with a grin. She replied with one of her own.

Tai looked between the two with an ambiguous look on his face, before saying, "Well? Let's get going then."

Ruby jumped for a second, before turning her head, nodding, and turning back to walk off to her Team's room.

"So, why'd your sister kick you out anyway?" Tai asked while following the girl.

"You'll see. You'll find it hilarious."

* * *

When the trio turned the corner, they saw a door that had been dislodged and entrenched in the opposite wall. "Ruby, seriously. WHAT DID YOU DO!?" Tai screamed in distress. "The last time she was angry enough to be this kind of destructive was the last time she got a haircut!"

"It'll be fine," Ruby assured them, before walking to the doorway. "Hello, team! I'm baaaaaa- EEP." Ruby poofed into petals just in time to avoid a bookshelf being thrown out of the room.

"Yang!" They heard a voice inside. "Now where am I going to keep my books."

"Eh, your smut will live for now. I just need to have our dear leader's head on a platter!" They heard Yang scream.

"I think it's my time to step in." Tai quietly said to Sun. He dumped the rest of his bags on the boy and then walked to the doorway. "Hello, there my little- Snrk!" He couldn't finish his sentence due to the snort that came out of him.

"D-dad! What are you- STOP LAUGHING!" Yang cried out.

"What's so funny Mr. Tai- Snrk!" Sun walked over and suffered the same fate as Tai. The two men certainly weren't expecting a green haired Yang to be in the room.

"Monkey-Boy too!?" By this point, the two of them were lost in fits of laughter, literally rolling on the floor. "this. Isn't. FUNNY!" Yang yelled out, as she grabbed the only bed she safely could. Weiss'.

"Wha- hey. Put that down this instant." Weiss cried. Said girl then cast a glyph under her teammate, which caused her to put the bed back where it belonged.

"O-okay, heh, let's be reasonable here," Tai said, finally recovering. "Let's calm down, everyone, and be reasonable." Tai's words managed to calm everyone present down, then got them all in the room, and sat down in a circle. "Okay, welcome to the happiness circle ladies and Sun." He grabbed Zwei from right beside him. "Whoever has the Zwei, is allowed to speak. Let's talk about our problems." He turned to Ruby. "You go get changed." She nodded and left.

"Um, sir?" Weiss raised her hand and then was handed Zwei. "Why do we need to use the puppy for this?"

Zwei was handed back to Tai. "It's to ensure Yang doesn't destroy what she's holding. The rubber balls never stood a chance." He said, with tears forming in his eyes. He wiped them, and when Ruby got back, he said, "Okay, now Yang. Explain what happened."

She was handed Zwei. "The little pest here, messed with my shampoo for no reason."

"NO REASON!?"

"Ruby!"

"Sorry."

Yang stuck her tongue out at her younger sister. "They're being childish," Weiss said to Blake.

"They're being them. Let's go grab breakfast. Jaune and his team should already be down there." Blake offered. And so, the pair left in search of food, leaving the Xiao Long-Rose family + One, to discuss their feelings.

"I only put hair dye in your shampoo so that you would learn when it's okay, and not okay to get me in trouble!" Ruby yelled back.

"Now girls, calm down-"

"Sun even went with me, because he was also given detention, for what you did!"

All eyes turned to Sun, who began to realize that this place is not where he wanted to be. "Can't I just stay as a neutral party?" He offered.

"Oh, is that what your little date was yesterday then?" Yang questioned. Ruby flinched, and with wide eyes, began to motion discreetly to her father, sitting right next to her. "You came back to the room, tampered with my shampoo, and then talked for nearly an hour about how much fun you had." Ruby by this point, was completely crimson and trying to motion for her sister to stop, pointing out both Tai and Sun now. Yang looked straight at her, with merciless eyes, while saying, "That reminds me. Hey dad, I got some pictures to show you."

By this point, Ruby was panicking. "Y-Y-YANG NO!" She jumped at her sister, trying to take the Scroll she had just fished out away from her.

"Sorry lil' Ruby!" She kicked the reaper off of her. "But revenge is a dish, best served fresh."

"That's not even the saying!" Ruby complained as she resigned herself to this fate. Yang brought up the pictures on her Scroll, with Tai's undivided attention, so Ruby decided she didn't want to face this right now. She walked over the Sun, and whispered, "Let's go get some food, okay?"

Sun nodded, still watching Yang go through her pictures. Ruby then lead him by the hand to the Cafeteria.

Yang finally found the picture she was looking for and brought it up fully. She was about to turn it so that Tai could see, but then she hesitated. _'Wait. Should I really do this? What would dad's reaction be like? Sure I'm angry but, I don't want Ruby's relationship with Sun to be ruined. What kind of a sister would I be?'_ Unfortunately for Yang, Tai got impatient and grabbed the Scroll out of her hand. Her almost completely red eyes turned back into lilac for the first time that day. "Dad wait!"

Tai looked down at the picture and was quite frankly shocked. The picture was one of Ruby pinning Sun down in a training arena, faces mere inches apart. The older man had many feelings shuffling about in his chest.

Shock.

Sadness.

Fear.

Anger.

…

Nostalgia.

Tai shook his head, and Yang looked almost scared. "D-dad?"

He looked right at her, and with a small smile said, "Let's go pay the lovebirds a visit."

"What?" That was the last thing Yang had expected to hear.

"Ruby mentioned food earlier, so they're likely in the Cafeteria. Let's go find them," he explained. Poor Yang was extremely confused.

* * *

The two Xiao Longs arrived in the Cafeteria to an interesting sight. The red reaper and the monkey thief were sitting across from one another, with a bowl of strawberries in between them.

"Wow! I never expected strawberries could taste this good!" Sun exclaimed.

"You mean you've never tried them before!?" Ruby cried out like it was blasphemy.

"Nope! Now I see how wrong I was. Thanks, Ruby!" Ruby blushed and continued eating happily.

Taiyang, who was watching the scene, didn't see only those two.

"And that's how I defeated the Deathstalker all by myself and saved an entire village!" A young blonde boasted.

"Amazing Tai! That's so cool!" The young man's white wearing partner replied.

The older of the two Xiao Longs' eyes welled up, as memories of the past came flooding back. _'You really have grown up, haven't you. I just wish you didn't have to look so much like your mother.'_ He thought as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"Uh, dad? What's wrong?" Yang asked in alarm.

"Nothing, it's just," He looked at Yang. "My little Rose is all grown up now." He said a bit sadly.

"Aw, dad. Well, she's still fifteen and hasn't even started dating him yet. She's still got a ways to go."

"Yeah..." He refocused on the scene in front of him.

"Hey, Sun! Don't eat them so fast, save some for me!"

"Oops, my bad."

"She's still got a ways to go..."

* * *

 **So, I'm just going to come out and say it.**

 **I don't understand where the 'overprotective dad' trope fits in with Tai. I mean, obviously he cares about his daughters, but he still let them, or at least Yang, go to Mistral.**

 **If I were in his shoes, and my first wife left me, my second wife died, and now my daughters both nearly died, and one of them is crippled for the rest of her life. They wouldn't leave my sight ever again.**

 **Eh, I guess that's just me though...**


	10. Chapter 10

A couple was sitting in silence on their front porch. It was a beautiful scene. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and everything was perfect. A young child with black hair and silver eyes came running up to its parents, but they shooed the child off to go play in the yard. The woman wearing a cape rests her head on her husband's shoulder.

She's content. Everything is how it should be.

But then she blinked.

In that split second she took her eyes off the scene, it changed. Instead of a beautiful yard with her child playing, it was a dark, dank forest with thousands of Grimm surrounding her. She looked around for a second, surprised, but she then quickly realized what she had to do. She brandished her weapon and flung herself towards the surrounding black mass. To her credit, she had managed to take down a couple hundred, maybe even a thousand of the monsters, but even her and her eyes weren't limitless. After what felt like was a couple minutes, but in reality was more like hours, she made a mistake. When she spun around to slash again, she lost her grip. The weapon went flying out of her hands, and into the never-ending sea of darkness. No worries, that was what her eyes were for. However, right as that thought passed through her mind, is when she realized she all of a sudden couldn't see all that well. Everything looked red, and when she put her hands to her eyes, they came back feeling warm and wet.

That's when the searing pain set in.

She crumpled to the ground as her eyes, or where they used to be, begged for mercy. She felt as her body was swept up by the black mass she had tried to defeat. She waited for her life to flash before her eyes, but maybe because she didn't have any anymore, or some other reason, that never happened.

Her last thoughts were what her family would think of her after she was gone.

Hopefully, they wouldn't be to upset.

* * *

Ruby awoke with a start. _'W-what was that?'_ She couldn't clearly remember her dream, but she knew that she saw someone die. From their perspective. It wasn't entirely out of the ordinary. Lately, she had been having a ton of dreams about the future, but this one had some obvious, and not so obvious differences.

For starters, most of the time, those dreams were happy. Potential futures where she saves the world, or more recently, futures with a certain Faunus. She blushed at that thought slightly, but then went back to her previous train of thought. Another difference was, this didn't entirely feel like a future dream anyway. Usually, from what she remembers, the only memories she had during those times were all her memories her conscious self-had, but in this dream, it didn't feel like she had any memories, to begin with.

Ruby checked the time. 4:38. She shook her head and laid back down to go back to sleep, but when she did, images of her nightmare flashed into her head. She tried again, this time repeating _'I'm not a kid, I can't be scared.'_ in her head like a mantra, but at the end that failed too. She tossed and turned more and more, before finally giving up. _'Maybe I just need some fresh air.'_ She thought as she hopped off of her bunk as lightly as possible, and leaving the room.

The door locked shut behind her, and she breathed in and out calmly before she realized something. She left her Scroll in the room. _'Oh crap! How'll I get back in!?'_ She groaned into her hands as she resigned herself to her fate. _'I just pulled a Jaune.'_ She wallowed in despair as she walked through the halls, looking for the commons area.

After she had finally gotten over the shame when she arrived, and she walked around the giant couch towards the balcony, only to find a figure standing there, looking upwards. She was confused for a moment until she saw the figure's tail. A soft smile appeared on her face, and she walked out without thinking about it. "What are you doing out here, Sun?"

"Hm? Oh, hey Ruby. Just watchin' the stars." He replied without turning. "You?"

"I just had a weird dream. Wanted to clear my head." She arrived at the spot right next to him and turned her head to look at him, only to blush and quickly look up at the sky with him. _'Why isn't he wearing a shirt!?'_

"Weird dream? Heh, yeah I've been having some too." Ruby looked at him again, this time in the face, with a confused expression. He looked down at her. "Maybe it's just nerves. We are finally getting our missions in the morning after all."

"Y-yeah. Maybe..." To be completely honest, she had completely forgotten about that whole thing. It had been a couple days since Tai arrived, and each day was spent around Sun for some reason, so it was pretty easy to do so. "It just felt so real though..." She looked downwards at the courtyard.

"Hey..." He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her into his chest. "It's alright. I'm here if you want to talk." He offered.

She looked up at him with a small, appreciative smile, but shook her head. "It's not really something I feel the most comfortable talking about right now. I'm okay." She didn't push away or anything, which was a pretty good sign to Sun.

"That's fine. Just, remember I'm here when you need me. Got it?" She gave him a thumbs up, then pushed away. The two of them stood there for a while, just staring up at the stars until Ruby gave out a mighty yawn. "Looks like it's about time to head back to sleep, huh?" Sun asked.

"Yeah..." Ruby muttered out sheepishly as they turned to head back inside. They went through the glass door, and Sun began heading to the halls, to go back to his room. Ruby was also headed back, but then she remembered what exactly put her in this predicament, to begin with.

Sun noticed she stopped and turned around to look at her. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, it's just..." She looked away. "I, uh... kind of locked myself out..." She told him, ashamed of herself.

There was silence for a couple minutes before Sun started snickering. "Y-you locked yourself out?" Sun asked, trying his best to hold in his laughter, for fear of Ruby's wrath. Meanwhile, Ruby was just glaring at the ground, cheeks bright red.

"Mmm." She grunted, and just stood there.

"S-sorry, it's just, heh. Sorry..."

"The dream freaked me out, okay!?" She crossed her arms and continued glaring at the ground.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have laughed." Sun said softly.

"You're dang right." She said grumpily. "So uh..." She stopped acting angry and looked at him with pleading eyes. "Can you help?"

"Probably not. If your dorm's window was open maybe?" Ruby shook her head. "Well then, I'm not sure what I can do." Sun thought about it for a moment. "Are you okay sleeping out here?"

"Uh, yeah I guess, but there aren't really any blankets or anything out here." She said, indicating towards the couch.

"That's fine. I can go grab something from my room for you to use." He told her, already turning around to go back to his room.

"Wait, are you sure?"

"One hundred percent." He said with a toothy grin. After that, he headed back to his dorm room, leaving Ruby in the commons area alone. It was very quiet. Way too quiet. She didn't like it. Not to mention, the wide open space was just perfect for something to sneak up on her in the middle of the night.

She hobbled over to the mega-sized couch, and sat down on it, without really thinking. The couch was facing the balcony, so the window allowed the moonlight to pass through. She sat there, staring at the rays of light almost in a trance.

"Ruby, I'm back!"

"EEP!" Due to the sudden noise, Ruby jumped almost a foot into the air and fell off the couch. "Don't so that."

"Sorry." Sun walked over to her and helped her up. "Here's the blankets and pillows ma'am." He said in a fake accent.

"Thanks, Sun, I- wait a minute. These look like all the sheets and blankets on the beds," she said suspiciously.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Don't want you getting cold."

"Sun, it's Summer."

"It'll be Autumn in a couple weeks." Ruby gave him a flat look, but he just ignored it after handing them to her. He began heading back to his room. "Anyway, uh, have a good night." He waved cheerily.

"Sun, wait!" He paused and looked back. "I don't want you to sleep without covers or anything. Besides, I..." She trailed off and looked down at the floor.

"Besides what?"

"I... Don't want to be alone right now..." She said quietly. She turned her head up to look at him. "Maybe you can, stay here with me?"

Sun was silent for the next few seconds, purely out of shock. "Okay, if that's what you want." He finally said. The next couple of moments were spent setting up the blankets and pillows to be a reasonable bed on the couch. "There doesn't seem to be enough room for the both of us to lay separately." Sun noticed.

"Yeah, it looks like we're gonna have to lay down a little closer then," Ruby said with a hint of both hope and joy in her voice.

Sun released his own yawn as he finally laid down. Ruby laid on top of him, snuggling herself into Sun's chest. "Hey, Sun?" He looked at her. "Thanks again."

"No prob-" Another yawn. "No problem Ruby..." Sun looked up at the ceiling. "You know, this is comfortable. I could really get used to this..." He trailed off, tiredness clearly evident in his voice.

Ruby giggled to herself, out of bliss, nervousness, and because she realized Sun probably had no idea what he was saying anymore. She debated quickly in her mind about whether or not to do it, but she decided why not. She looked up at his sleeping face and planted a quick kiss on his cheek. "Goodnight Sun." She said as she to drifted off into sleep.

* * *

 **This chapter was meant to be a shorter little set up to the beginning of the missions, but I guess it ballooned into something else entirely.**

 **Ruby's getting quite bold, isn't she?**

 **Already sleeping with her man...**

 **How lewd.**


	11. Chapter 11

Sun wasn't able to actually get much sleep.

Oh sure, he was almost asleep, drifting in and out a consciousness and all that. Of course, given a few more seconds, he would likely be in dreamland at the moment, but then the small girl on top of him had to kiss him. Imagine his surprise, when he had just closed his eyes, and started to lose the sense of time, and the girl of his dreams just kisses him, and that same girl is now sleeping right on top of him. Needless to say, he was wide awake now, and it's not like he could just get up and get some fresh air to clear his head like he usually would.

Thinking about Ruby was the reason he was on the balcony in the first place.

He would have thought more on the subject, except Ruby snuggled deeper into his chest in her sleep, mumbling a little. "Paradise..."

 _'Why does she have to be so cute!?'_ He wailed in his mind. _'Well, she likes me, doesn't she? I mean, why else would she kiss me? Maybe she was half asleep. Or maybe she really does like me?'_ He looked down at her, being able to see from the early morning light now streaming through the window. Right then and there, he made up his mind.

And then he saw Weiss round the corner, standing right in front of the couch. She looked right into his eyes, then down at Ruby's head poking out of the blanket, then back at his eyes. "What are you doing here, Weiss?" He asked her quietly.

"Looking for my partner." She replied pointedly.

"She locked herself out, what was I supposed to do?"

"I was wondering why her Scroll was still there." She whispered back, then sighed. "Alright, I guess she's fine for now, though you might want to get up before Yang. She won't be happy to hear you slept with her sister." She laughed slightly, before walking away.

"Wait! Don't word it like that!" He whisper-screamed after her, but she couldn't hear him.

He may have been a bit too loud though because Ruby began stirring. She lifted her head up, to see Sun's face. She smiled a half-asleep smile, and said, "I love dreams..." She then went right back to sleep. Sun just smiled, and patted her head, before fully relaxing.

He could tough it out for a few more hours. No big deal.

* * *

Sun was walking around the auditorium with his team. Ozpin had just finished his speech, and now they were looking at each terminal, trying to find a suitable mission for them all to take. They had no luck so far.

"Wandering around is getting us nowhere," Scarlet said.

"Yeah, but what else do we do. It's not like we can just find a mission that we all want." Sun replied.

"How about we leave it to a vote?"

"We already did, remember? None of us agreed on anything. Plus, I think Sun was distracted at the time." Neptune told him.

"What? I wasn't distracted. It's a matter important to our team, of course, I paid attention." Sun defended.

"So important that you stared at the terminal, and didn't know what we were talking about? What were you even thinking about anyway?" Neptune asked him.

"T-team stuff."

"Okay, sure," Neptune said sarcastically. "That reminds me. Where did you go last night?"

"Nowhere important." He told him quickly. The rest of his team stared at him with flat looks. "Okay, can we just find a mission already?" They shrugged, and Neptune gestured for him to lead the way. With a sigh, Sun began walking towards the next terminal, Scarlet and Neptune whispering and snickering behind him. He looked at the terminal they were coming up on, and his eyes widened when he read the first available mission. He immediately turned around to look at his team, pointed right at the mission, and watched as all of their eyes widened as well.

"IT'S PERFECT!" They all shouted in unison.

Sun immediately signed them all up for it, while skimming the description. "All right guys. Looks like it'll start tomorrow at nine." A couple of other students gave them the stink eye for being so loud, but none of them cared. All they cared about was that now, they had a mission to fulfill that they all agreed on. After a couple cheers, Sun began quickly searching around for team RWBY. He saw them heading towards the exit, and he chased after them.

"Wha- Sun! Wait up!" Neptune called after him. Sun slowed his pace a little so he could keep up. Scarlet and Sage just shrugged and walked off. "Dude! What's with you? Why'd you just run off like that?"

"Oh, uh... I wanted to tell Ruby about the mission we got."

"Why so fast, huh?" Neptune teased.

"Look Nep! I came to a realization while sleeping with Ruby last night!"

"While what!?"

"Uh, not that way. Just listen!" Neptune shut his mouth and nodded. "Okay man, so... I think that..." Neptune nodded along, listening closely. "I think Ruby might like me."

Neptune stared at him blankly, expecting more. When he didn't get any more, he said, "You think? How did you realize?"

"Well, she kissed me!" He said a bit louder than he meant to. Many people around him looked with intrigue, while others pretended not to be interested.

"Wait, wait, wait. Ruby did?" Neptune said, unaware of the attention the two had just gained. "Are you sure you weren't asleep?"

"I'm sure. I pinched myself and everything." Sun told his partner, also unaware of the whispering going on all around them. Neptune looked at him like he was crazy. "Come on, I gotta talk to her before she leaves." With that, Sun continued his walk, completely unaware of what he had just started.

* * *

"Come on Ruby! If you don't hurry, we're going to be tardy, and I can not accept that!" Weiss screamed.

"I know, I know. No need to yell..." She trailed off. "Okay, team! Are we ready?" She asked when she caught up to the three of them. They all nodded, and Ruby pointed forward saying, "Onto victory!" The quartet walked out the door they were standing in front of, only to hear some footsteps behind them.

"There you guys are!" They heard Sun say as they turned around. "Glad we were able to catch up!"

"Hey, Sun!" Ruby greeted cheerily before anyone else had a chance.

"Someone's a bit eager," Yang mumbled.

"What are you doing here?" Ruby asked him, not hearing Yang.

"Oh uh... just, wanted to see you guys off, before you left for your mission," Sun said quickly. He couldn't see it, but Neptune leveled a glare at the back of his head. "So, yeah! Good luck. Stay safe!" He flashed a grin, and a thumbs up.

"Thank you, Sun! I will." Ruby replied.

There was a slight pause in the conversation, before Yang asked, "That's it? That's all you wanted to say."

"Y-yup! Definitely! Anyway, if you'll excuse me, I'll just-" He began to turn around, and walk away, but was cut off by Neptune elbowing him in the gut. Sun looked at him with a question in his eyes, but Neptune just stared meaningfully at him and turned him back around. He sighed, before saying, "Actually, can I... talk to Ruby? Privately?" He asked the rest of the girls.

Weiss and Blake nodded, Weiss, saying, "I'll tell our Huntsman that you've been delayed." Yang, however, seemed to not hear him.

"Yang?" Sun asked.

"Hmm?

"Privacy, please?"

"I'm an older sister. I should be able to be here during your, 'special moment'." She explained, only for Weiss to come back and physically drag her away. "Weiss Cream! Why!?" She didn't respond as she continued to drag Yang away.

Sun then looked at Neptune as well. "Me too?" Sun just nodded, and Neptune sighed and went to go chat with the rest of RWBY, which left just Sun and Ruby. They walked into an empty room so they weren't blocking the entrance.

"So? What did you want to talk about?" Ruby asked, a little nervous.

"Um, well... It's about last night..." He began, and Ruby eyed him. "Yes, I realize how that sounds." He rubbed the back of his head. "So, I was actually awake when you kissed me..."

A beat.

"O-oh, okay, th-that's fine." Ruby looked away. She was shaking a little, her head bent downwards. "You don't have to spend time around me if you don't want..." She turned. "I just thought. Maybe, we could..." She couldn't finish her sentence.

"Ruby!" He grabbed her arm when she began to leave. "Please wait!" He turned her around, but she still looked at the ground. "Ruby, I- I'm not mad. Far from it."

Ruby finally looked up at him, tears forming in her eyes. "What?"

"I'm saying, I like you." He exclaimed forcefully. Ruby looked at him with disbelieving eyes.

"How do I know you aren't lying?" She asked.

"Ruby. Would I lie to you?" Sun looked at her earnestly.

"I don't know, maybe? If it was to make me feel better..." She trailed off.

Sun sighed and blushed as an idea popped into his head. "Fine then." He said as he walked over to her. She looked up curiously, as Sun grabbed her chin, and leaned down.

Ruby released a small, surprised squeak when their lips met. It was like a jolt of electricity that began coursing through her body, originating from the lips. She became tunnel visioned, focusing solely on Sun. Unconsciously, She wrapped her arms around Sun's neck and began pulling herself upwards to kiss him deeper. Unfortunately, they had both run out of air, so they separated, gasping for breath. Ruby detached herself from Sun but still looked at him.

Staring into each other's eyes, Sun asked, "That enough proof for ya'?"

Ruby, face completely red, nodded before asking, "What about Blake, though?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, don't you like her? I always thought..." She trailed off, her gaze averting to the ground in shame.

"Blake's a great friend, and maybe I did think I had a crush on her." He paused, and Ruby tensed up. "But, over the course of this past week, I realized that I like you, in a way beyond that of what I feel for Blake." He paused again, and Ruby looked back at him. "Ruby. I love you."

"Sun..." She stared at him with wide eyes, before dashing up and hugging him as tightly as she could. "I love you too," she mumbled into his chest.

* * *

"Professor Oobleck!?" Ruby exclaimed when she arrived back out front, where the rest of her team was waiting, with oddly guilty expressions. "Why's Professor Oobleck our Huntsman?" She asked them.

"Doctor, and Miss Rose, I do believe you will find that I am much more than a simple teacher. All us Beacon staff must be trained professionals." The doctor explained. "Anyway, we must move! You are already over ten minutes late, while the rest of your team was right on time." He told them in his usual fast tone. He then got onto the Bullhead and waited.

"Well, good luck out there!" Sun cheered from behind her. She gave him a thumbs up, before walking to the Bullhead. "Stay safe!" He called out. She boarded the aircraft, and waved to Sun, as the rest of her team piled in, and the ship took off.

She continued to wave until Beacon was completely out of sight. She then took a seat, right in between Blake and Yang, setting her bag down by her feet. "Well, ladies!" She heard Oobleck say. "Make yourselves comfortable. It will take approximately two hours before we arrive." He then walked into the cockpit, with the pilot.

There was a poignant silence for a couple moments as the Bullhead soared through the sky. The silence was broken when Yang bear-hugged Ruby from the side. "I'm so proud of you!" She exclaimed, as Ruby quickly began losing air.

She reached out to Blake, coughing out, "Help. Me..." Blake shook her head and detached the two sisters. Ruby hacked, and panted, before turning to her older sister. "What was that for!?"

"You did it! You actually did it! I can't believe it!" Yang yelled. When Ruby continued to look at her confused, she finished, "You got a boyfriend, dummy!"

"Wha- How did- I mean- I wouldn't really say, boyfriend..." She mumbled to herself, but Yang was able to hear her.

"I mean, you were kissing him. I think that makes him your boyfriend, Rubes." She said, a little softer than before.

"Yeah, I guess you're- wait, how do you know that I was-" She gasped, and looked at Weiss and Blake, who both averted their gazes. "I can't believe you guys! Why didn't you stop her?" They seemed to breathe a small sigh of relief, as the suspicion seemed to leave them. "Unless..." Ruby pondered, before gasping again. "Really!?" She exclaimed as the monochromatic duo looked down in shame. "Weiss? Even you?"

Her partner looked her in the eye. "It was Yang's idea! I was perfectly content to stay there, and talk with Neptune or Pyrrha, but then Nora got involved and-"

"You mean Team JNPR knows too!?" Ruby screamed.

Blake looked at her with a sympathetic expression. "Ruby, I hate to break it to you, but if the rumors Jaune told me about really are going around school, I'm pretty sure the entirety of Beacon knows at this point."

Ruby was shell-shocked. She put her head in her hands to try and cover up her embarrassment. "Just end me now..."

"Aw, come on Rubes! It's not that bad, look at the bright side! You have a boyfriend now! Remember when we were first arriving, and you were panicking about not having friends, or knowing people?" Yang laughed. "Man, how time flies." She said wistfully.

Ruby realized this was her chance. Her moment. "You're right Yang." She said, her still red face rising out of her hands. She looked her older sister in the eyes. "You're right. I do have a boyfriend." Yang looked at her suspiciously. "I have a boyfriend. Something my sister has never got before!" She laid the nail in the coffin, with a devious smirk.

"Wha- Ruby!" Yang exclaimed, her face turning a little red.

Blake turned to look at her partner. "Wait a minute. **The** Yang Xiao-Long has never had a boyfriend before?" She asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

"Miss well endowed? Ha!" Weiss laughed.

The three girls giggled, with the brawler sitting next to them fuming. Ruby leaned over to semi-whisper into Blake's ear, "You think it's the green hair?" She asked the question loud enough to be heard by both Yang, and Weiss, the latter of two bursting out into uproarious laughter.

Yang snapped, and yelled, "THAT'S IT!" She grabbed Ruby and put her into a headlock.

"N-no wait! Yang! We can talk about this!" Ruby tried to bargain, but it was too late. The fierce noogie had already begun. "N-noooooooo..." She yelled out helplessly.

In the other room, Oobleck chuckled to himself. He began reminiscing to himself, remembering his first team mission. "Make sure to keep those spirits up, girls." He said to himself. He then looked down to the control panel in front of him. "You're going to need it."

* * *

 **Maybe, if I don't explain why this chapter is late, no one will ask...**

 **Hehehe, delightfully devilish Hyper...**

 **Okay! Explanation time! Basically, side projects, computer got hacked, RWBY Amnity Arena beta, figuring out how to write the damn kiss scene.**

 **On that note. Red Sun! Yay! It's been hinted. It's been teased. It's been built, and finally, it's here. Yes, that does mean we are entering the final act. Almost at the end folks.**

 **Hold onto something. It's gonna be a bumpy ride.**


	12. Chapter 12

"Alright, ladies!" Oobleck shouted. "Go get those Grimm!" He pointed straight at the small pack that was already descending upon them, followed by a bark from Zwei, who Ruby may, or may not have brought with her. Who's to say?

Ruby dashed forward first, spinning her body around to slice up all the Beowolves in front of her. She was a veritable ball of energy and happiness after the events of the morning, so she had absolutely no qualms about taking out a couple Grimm. She did a small spin after they were dead, and turned to look back at her team. She saw Blake and Yang looking in a different direction, and Weiss speeding towards her. She heard a whooshing sound as her partner sped past her, and killed a Grimm that was sneaking up on her.

"You dolt! Don't take your eyes off of them!"

"R-right! Sorry, Weiss."

"It's fine. Now, together!" Weiss shouted.

The two girls ran forward at incredible speeds towards the Grimm that were still in their way. In no time at all, every single Beowolf, Boarbatusk, and Ursa standing in the way were nothing but piles of smoking black masses on the ground.

"Woohoo! We did it, Weiss! High Five!" Ruby cheered, raising her hand for her partner to hit it. She just scoffed, and sent a blast of Dust behind Ruby, hitting an approaching Nevermore. Ruby quickly turned around to snipe the rest of the flock. "Sorry." She said after the flock had all been destroyed.

"Please don't make a habit out of it." Weiss pleaded.

"Will do!" Ruby said with a small salute, only for Weiss to kill a Beowolf behind her. "Starting now." She dropped down into a fighting stance, with Crescent Rose at the ready for anymore approaching Grimm. "Sorry Weiss..." She said after a couple minutes of looking for more black creatures.

Weiss sighed. "It's fine Ruby, just don't let your excitement distract you."

Ruby nodded, though Weiss couldn't see it, she felt it as they were now back to back. Now on high alert, they realized that they had been separated from the rest of the group. "Weiss, this is getting us nowhere. We should get moving. I'm sure when they need us, Yang and Blake will make a signal or something." She felt Weiss nod from behind her, and the two of them began walking. "Okay, I'll watch the sky. You make sure nothing is coming at us from the ground."

"Already on it," Weiss said, looking around. The two began walking side by side, silently, not entirely sure what they were going to come across next.

Neither were speaking, they walked softly, and every small noise was amplified by the surrounding destroyed buildings. It was so quiet, that when the flapping of wings was heard, both girls nearly jumped out of their skins. They looked up to see a black creature flying overhead and quickly calmed down, with Ruby looking at it through a scope. "Aw. It's a cute little birdy." She told her partner, only to let loose a small scream when a Beowolf swiped her from behind. Weiss quickly jumped into action, slicing it's head off in one fluid motion. Ruby quickly got back up with a claw slash though the back of her cape and outfit. "Ow ow ow... Weiss! You were supposed to watch for them!"

"I was! I wasn't able to see that one." Weiss rebutted. Ruby didn't respond, instead, trying to focus her Aura onto her back to heal the cut, the bird from before circled over head. The pain had just subsided, when the pair heard growling from all around them. They quickly jumped back to back again, in preparation for the hoard. "You're annoyed, aren't you?" Weiss asked her.

"How could I not be?"

Weiss sighed. "Man... what terrible luck."

* * *

After tons of Grimm, Ruby and Weiss had managed to meet back up with Yang, Blake, Zwei, and Oobleck, and they began searching for a place to stay for the night. The pair was lagging behind, however, due to the exhaustion of dealing with all the monsters.

When Oobleck finally stopped at a dilapidated building, the girls took a moment for them to realize this was where they would be staying. "Um... Professor?" Yang began.

"Doctor!"

"Right... anyway, are you sure it's safe to stay here?" She asked. She walked forward, looking at the crumbling wall. "It doesn't seem structurally sound."

"Nonsense! You girls are Huntresses- or will be anyway! You must be ready for every possibility. So if the building does collapse, then you best be ready for it!" He yelled out. Yang just sent a flat stare at him, then the rest of her team. They just shrugged, and didn't say anything. "Besides, it's the closest one that has the lowest chance of falling." Yang sighed in response, and began walking into the building, and began setting up camp. "Top level, Ms. Xiao Long." She grunted, and began walking up the steps, Zwei following dutifully after her.

The rest of the team followed her up, Blake chuckling a bit at Yang's antics. Ruby and Weiss were to exhausted to care though. "Be sure to choose who has lookout duty through out the night!" Oobleck called after them, to which Ruby gave an affirmative noise.

They finally made it to the top, where all of them laid out their sleeping bags. Ruby and Weiss collapsed immediately. "Okay," Ruby said without getting up. "Yang gets first watch, then I'll go, then Blake, and then Weiss will wake us all up in the morning."

"You sure you can handle getting up so soon?" Blake asked her.

"Yup." She looked up with a smile. "Don't you worry your little kitty ears off. I'll be fine."

"Why are you guys so exhausted anyway?" Yang then asked.

Weiss looked up at her. "The better question is why aren't you?"

"There weren't that many Grimm." She answered simply. "Actually, know that I think about it, even the Grimm we did see didn't attack us. Doctor Oobleck said something about them gaining intelligence over time."

Ruby and Weiss looked at her with dumbfounded expressions. "You're kidding me." They said at the same time. Ruby then covered herself, and pushed her head into the pillow she brought with her. "Just, don't forget to wake me up at-" she checked the time. "Midnight." She then fell asleep almost immediately.

Yang nodded, and chuckled a bit, before sitting at the lookout perch, with Zwei curling up right next to her. "Aw, you wanna help buddy?" She asked, and he just licked her leg in response. She shook her head, and held back a small laugh.

* * *

Yang felt as Zwei pounced on her again. She shot up, as was quickly becoming the norm. "Thanks buddy." She whispered, then checked the time. "Okay, it's about 1:15. Do you think we should wake her up now?" Zwei sat down in front of her, and tilted his head. Yang glanced back at Ruby, still sleeping soundly. "You're right. Maybe another thirty minutes."

She sighed, and leaned back again, and stared up into the sky, watching the stars. Zwei was smart. He would let her know if there was something coming. _'Why did I want to be Huntress, huh?'_ She thought back to earlier that day. While Ruby and Weiss were off fighting the horde, Oobleck asked her and Blake that simple question. How such a simple question made her stop in her tracks, she didn't know. At the time, she just gave her default, 'for the thrill' answer. Now that she actually thought about it though...

Her eyes drifted back to Ruby, still sleeping soundly. _'She's matured a lot...'_ Her eyes went back up to the stars. _'Maybe... maybe she doesn't need protection anymore. Without me even knowing it, she's surpassed even me in social landmarks.'_ She yawned, and her eyes began drifting shut, but catching a glimpse of her still green hair. _'She definitely still has to get punished though. No matter how old she gets.'_ Her eyes shut fully, and she began falling asleep.

Only for Zwei to jump on her again. "Gah! I'm up!" The dog panted and looked at her expectantly. "What do you need, buddy?" Zwei hopped onto his hind legs and put his front paws on her shoulders. She raised an eyebrow, and he got down and spun in a small circle. Entirely confused, Yang looked back out across the destroyed city. "Looking at it now, it's kind of creepy, right Zwei-" She cut off, as she noticed he wasn't there anymore. "Zwei?" She got up and began looking.

"Come on out, buddy." She called softly as she looked around her teammates sleeping bags. She shuffled around Ruby's and Weiss' bags, before realizing she saw some dirt paw prints leading out the door. She went to the door but looked back at her still sleeping teammates. _'They can take care of themselves.'_ She thought to herself as she left.

She began running through the streets, following the fresh tracks of dirt left by Zwei. She looked, and looked, and looked. Block by block, she couldn't find him. That was until a small black bird landed on her shoulder. She looked at it, quizzically, until it motioned it's head forward and began flying. She squinted at it flying away but decided to follow it anyway. If it lead her in circles, then she could return to the lookout, and continue the search in the morning.

After another two blocks, the bird flew on top of a decrepit, and at the base was Zwei... peeing. "Seriously? You nearly gave me a heart attack you idiot." Yang said to him. He waddled up to her, smiling. "You could have done that, literally anywhere." She sighed and turned around. "Alright, come on. I think it's time to wake up Ruby." She began walking away, but Zwei began barking like mad and running for his life. She heard the bird from earlier caw.

Then she heard a crack.

She looked down slightly too late, as she felt the ground give way underneath her. She barely had time to scream, before a chunk of the building at the edge of the sinkhole hit her in the head.

Everything turned black after that.

The only thing she saw was the black bird dive bomb towards her.

* * *

 **And the story thickens...**

 **I don't really have much else to say, except the next chapter or two will be just RWBY, so if you care more about Red Sun than the story, come back in a couple chapters.**


	13. Chapter 13

Ruby awoke, rather suddenly when Zwei came running into the room barking up a storm. She lifted her head, and asked, "Is it my watch already?" When he kept barking, Ruby got closer and held him. "What's up buddy?"

"Ruby, please shut that mutt up!" Blake screamed at her. Zwei wiggled out of Ruby's arms and ran over to where Yang was. Was supposed to be, at least, except she wasn't there.

"Zwei! Where did Yang go!?" Ruby yelled. This got her two teammates attention. They immediately got up and joined in her astonishment. Yang was nowhere to be seen. Zwei just kept running in circles in a panicked manner. He barked up at them, before running out the door. The three followed closely after him.

"Where are you three going!?" They heard behind them. Oobleck was chasing after them as well.

"Yang's gone. We're going to find her!" Blake called back. Oobleck quickened his pace to catch up with the girls quickly.

"Do you know where she has gone?" He asked as soon as he caught up.

"Zwei's leading us there," Weiss informed him. He nodded as the group rounded the corner, and came across the sinkhole Yang fell in. Zwei ran right in front of it, before stopping, sitting, and looking down into it. "You're kidding me..." Weiss mumbled.

Ruby gasped, and quickly ran up to the hole, trying to look down into it. "Ruby, don't get to close to the edge!" Oobleck warned, however, she didn't listen, and leaned in further, only for the ground beneath her to begin crumbling as well.

She panicked, beginning to fall only to be caught by Blake's ribbon on Gambol Shroud. She was pulled back to the group. Zwei barked at her, whilst Weiss scolded her, Blake stood a little closer to the hole trying to peer down into it, and Oobleck was looking for a safe entrance nearby.

"What were you thinking?" Weiss asked her.

"I-I didn't want Yang to get hurt..." She began mumbling as her sentence went on.

Weiss groaned, and her expression softened. "While that may be true, you still have to be responsible. Please don't get yourself killed."

Ruby nodded and got back up to face Blake. "What do you see?"

"It's the White Fang. They have guards patrolling all around down there. Couldn't get close enough to see where Yang would have landed, but-" She cut off, looking back down into the pit. She sighed, before saying, "She most likely would have been spotted." There was silence after that. None of them really wanted to think about just what would happen to her, if she were unable to do anything. The Fang would no recognize her, and they likely wouldn't be happy.

"We won't let that happen." Ruby said determinedly.

* * *

"Roman Torchwick!?" Ruby whisper-screamed. "He's here too?" RWB was currently hiding out behind a rock formation in the underground. Oobleck had managed to find an abandoned passageway that was likely used to get to the tracks before the outpost fell to the Grimm. When they got down, he ordered them to stay where they were, while he snuck around looking for Yang. Zwei went with him.

"It makes sense, I guess..." Blake replied sadly. "This does seem to be a large operation, and Torchwick seems to be the new ringleader for the White Fang."

"Then, what would he do with Yang?" Weiss asked. This made the group pause. They had an idea, but not one that they were willing to ponder for long.

Their thoughts were interrupted, however, when they heard Torchwick yell, "PERRY! Did you ever find out what caused that cave in?" The group looked at each other in confusion but listened closer.

"No, sir! We think the ground up there might have just given way due to age."

Torchwick sighed. "Okay. Oh yeah, do one more thing for me, before I forget."

"What's that sir?" Perry looked confused, as Torchwick turned to his right, staring at the rock formation the group was behind.

He raised his cane, and shot a blast, destroying the rock and revealing the team. "Go deal with some intruders." Roman then ran off to the front of the train.

"Hey!" Perry screamed. "What do you think you're doing here!?" He then signaled the train behind him, before a bunch of White Fang soldiers ran out towards them.

"Just looking for a friend," Ruby said nervously as she pulled out Crescent Rose in sniper mode. There were a lot of them. She wasn't sure if she could take them all, even with Blake and Weiss backing her up. As the grunts began charging, Ruby changed her weapon to scythe mode. _'Without Yang, we don't really have a damage sponge. Gotta be careful...'_ She backed up to form a tighter group with the other two girls. Even if she couldn't use her scythe to it's fullest due to the proximity, she had been training her Semblance, so she should be able to pick the two up without too much difficulty.

She made it a little behind her two teammates, and slammed the blade of Crescent Rose into the ground, just as the grunts had managed to make it to them. Blake defended their left side, Weiss had their right, while Ruby cleared out the middle. Despite their effort, they were pushed back to the wall.

"We need to find a way past them," Blake said.

"We shouldn't rush it," Weiss replied. "Doctor Oobleck is looking for Yang, so theirs no need to hurry." Just as she said that however, the train whistle was blown, and the locomotive began moving.

The grunts in front of the trio began freaking out. "What's going on? We're not supposed to leave for another couple weeks."

"Maybe it's these Huntress' fault?" The ragtag group began falling into madness, as they scrambled to get back onto the train. A couple Faunus were trampled, while others stayed to be martyrs for their cause.

These martyrs were the ones that held back RWB. "We're still surrounded. How do we get to that train?" Weiss started panicking.

"Guess I gotta try then..." Ruby muttered to herself, before collapsing Crescent Rose, and grabbing onto Blake and Weiss. "Hold on tight, guys." She warned before she blasted off in a burst of rose petals. She angled herself to bounce off the wall behind her and sped towards the train before any of the grunts could realize what happened. When she landed, she quickly jumped up again, reaching high enough to land on top of the train, right when it finished pulling out of the station.

Ruby released her Semblance as they reached the top of the train, falling off due to the speed. "Wah, oh no!" She screamed as she tried to twist her body to cushion her fall, but all of a sudden she stopped falling. Blake had managed to catch her just in time. As she was put back on the top, she collapsed and held her stomach. "Ugh, I hate that so much..."

"You okay?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah, just a small side effect of taking other people with me while using my Semblance." She shakily got to her feet, as they heard heavy footsteps behind them. Weiss and Blake quickly turned to intercept, but they stopped when they noticed that it was Oobleck.

"Are you all alright?" He asked. They nodded affirmative, and Ruby turned around. "Miss Rose?" She gave him a small thumbs up as Zwei ran up to her.

"I'm good. Did you ever find Yang?"

He shook his head. "I was able to search most of the cave before I had to hop on board, but I was not ever able to find Miss Xiao-Long. She must be somewhere on this train, so your job, girls, is to find her." He informed them, sipping his coffee.

"What about you, sir?" Ruby asked.

He looked forward, as the White Fang grunts from earlier climbed up to the top. "I have some people to teach." The girls looked at each other, before shrugging.

"Okay... stay safe professor," Blake said, as she and Blake grabbed Ruby and jumped into the train.

"Doctor!" He called back.

* * *

The three girls were walking through the small corridors of the train. Well, two were walking. "Guys, I'm feeling better now. I can walk."

"Are you sure? You look a bit pale." Blake told her.

"I'm always pale..."

"Well, if you spent less time in the forge, maybe you wouldn't be," Weiss said snarkily.

"I'm not spending that much time in there anymore." She defended.

"Oh, you're right. You've been to busy spending time with Sun." Weiss teased.

"Wha- n-no! Well, maybe... b-but aren't I supposed to..." Ruby tried defending again, red in the face.

"Oh, hey look, Blake, maybe she is feeling better. At least she has color on her face now."

Ruby began struggling to get out of their grip. "Yeah, so that means I can walk now!"

"Hm..." Weiss studied her partner's face mockingly. "I don't know..." Ruby didn't wait for a reply, before stomping down with her right foot, the side Weiss was holding her on. "Hey!"

Ruby chuckled. "Thanks for being so short, Weiss!" She pushed herself into Blake, causing her to lose her grip, and finally release Ruby. She landed, a little wobbly, but otherwise completely fine. "See?" She gestured to herself, standing in front of the two. Blake just raised her eyebrow, shrugging a bit, while Weiss crossed her arms with a grumpy look.

Ruby laughed a bit, before turning back around, and entering the next car. It was nice to have a little levity at the moment. The car looked empty, but the three could tell something was amiss. They readied their weapons and took defensive stances. Ruby began checking the boxes around the cart, as Weiss and Blake continued forward.

"Ruby, what are you doing? Let's hurry through here." Blake asked.

"This doesn't feel right. I thought I might've been able to find something." She explained.

"Whatever, let's just go," Weiss said, walking through the door. Blake nodded and walked through as well.

Ruby shrugged, putting her guard down, and began to walk through the door, only for it to shut loudly in her face. "Whoa!" She was flung back into some of the crates without even realizing she left the ground. A girl with pink and brown hair stood between her, and the door.

"Ruby!" They heard from behind the door. "The door's stuck!"

"Go find Yang! There's someone here, I gotta-" She was cut off as the girl brought out her parasol, and kicked at her. "Go!"

"Got it." Footsteps were heard leaving the door, quicker than before. The girl smirked at Ruby, before turning to walk towards a trunk that had a tub of ice cream on it.

She sat down and crossed her legs, still smirking at Ruby. "You're the girl who helped Torchwick that last time," Ruby realized.

"..." The girl just shrugged and nodded.

Ruby leveled a glare at her. "What even is your name?" She smirked again and pointed at the tub of ice cream she had. "Uh... ice cream?" The girl shook her head and grabbed the tub to bring it closer to Ruby. She looked at the label. "Neapolitan?" The girl formed an O with her fingers. "Ne-oh-politan?" The girl, Neo, nodded, before stabbing with her parasol. Ruby quickly burst into petals and got out of the way. _'Crap. I let her distract me.'_

Ruby glared again, scythe at the ready this time. Neo released a silent laugh, waiting. Ruby got frustrated and charged. She swung wide as she normally would, only for Neo to duck and Crescent Rose to get stuck in a crate right by her. Neo then kicked Ruby away from her weapon, sending her flying into the wall. She got up from the floor and shook her head a little before trying to use her Semblance to get back to her scythe.

Neo saw it coming, though. She quickly kicked behind her, hitting Ruby right in the face and using her speed to send her into the wall again. Neo smirked at her opponent as she laid on the ground. She jumped forward aiming to stab Ruby right through the chest. She was able to recover in time, however, moving to the side and bursting into rose petals again. She sped towards her scythe, grabbed it, and positioned herself to face Neo again, but she wasn't there.

Ruby circled around, looking for her.

She wasn't behind her...

She wasn't behind the boxes...

She wasn't beneath them either...

Where else could she be...?

Ruby thought about it for a minute. _'UP!'_ She realized. She quickly looked upwards as Neo leaped onto her, pushing her to the ground with another kick. Ruby was basically useless with Neo on top of her. She was way to close for Ruby to use her scythe, and the less said about her hand-to-hand, the better. She needed a way out of this.

Her Semblance could work if she weren't pinned, but maybe...

She closed her eyes, focusing, as Neo raised her parasol above her head, the hidden blade coming out. She ferociously swung down, just as, all of a sudden Ruby was gone. This time, it was Neo's turn to be confused, as a bunch of rose petals swirled around the room. They seemed to be evenly distributed around the place, as the drifted around. If you weren't there, you would think there was a breeze swirling around with how the petals moved.

After a while, a majority of the petals began swirling around behind Neo. They all swirled together into a mini tornado, only for Ruby to re-appear in the middle. Neo still hadn't noticed her, so she had the advantage. Unfortunately, her weapon didn't transport with her, so she had to throw a punch. She thought back to one of the lessons Yang gave her when she was younger and threw the best punch she could muster.

Unfortunately, she took to long to prep.

Neo noticed her, and when the punch was thrown, she high kicked, hitting Ruby right in the face. She fell to the ground, unconscious.

Neo stood over her, taking Crescent Rose into her hand. How poetic. Getting killed by the one thing she needed to survive. Neo shrugged. She didn't really care either way.

This girl was dead.

She took the scythe, winded back holding the weapon over her head-

And swung down.

* * *

 **So, for some reason, this chapter was pretty hard to write for the first quarter. Maybe it's all the characters...**

 **Way to many to focus on.**


	14. Chapter 14

Weiss had a hard time focusing. She was running through the train cars one by one with Blake, but due to the exhaustion, she began falling behind her teammate. Blake noticed this and turned around to ask her whether or not she was okay.

"I'm fine. Just a little tired." She reassured.

Blake narrowed her gaze at her. "Alright. If you're sure." Weiss kept walking as if she hadn't even heard the Faunus. Blake slowed down a little to get behind her and keep on eye on their surroundings. She could see much easier than the heiress anyway. "I hope Ruby's all right." She said offhandedly as they walked into the next car.

"She'll be fine," Weiss replied, looking back at her. This turned out to be a mistake however when she was hit from her blind spot and sent flying back into Blake. She got back up slowly, slightly dazed and asked, "What was that?" Looking back through the doorway she was sent through, she saw a mountain of a man, at least twice her size. He glared at her through hid Grimm mask.

"A Schnee, huh?" The man growled. He brought his chainsaw over his head preparing for a strike, before chuckling. "Nighty night!" He said as he brought the chainsaw down on the dazed girl.

Only for her to disappear into a plume of dust.

"What the...?" He brought his chainsaw back up to its neutral position and began looking around until she got hit in the back of the head with a load of fire dust. He turned quickly to see Weiss standing there, and Blake standing a little to the side.

"Thanks for the help Blake, but I can handle this. You should go find Torchwick." Weiss didn't even turn to look at her before issuing the command. Blake looked like she wanted to argue, but decided against it.

She sighed. "Fine. Stay safe." She then ran through the door, leaving Weiss to face the man alone. She nodded, though Blake couldn't see it.

"She'll be fine," Blake told herself as she ran through another train car. She looked around and sighed. The only option she saw was to move forward, so that's what she did. Hopefully, all her teammates would be alright...

* * *

"Ugh..." Yang groaned. She had no idea where she was. Last she knew, she was falling down a pit, and then something hit her... everything was black after that. She opened her eyes, looking down at her legs. Wait... that's not right. She was looking at her legs, but she was being carried under someone's arm.

She tilted her head upwards. The first thing she noticed was that she was on top of something, and moving very fast. The wind made that obvious. The second was that there seemed to be fighting down the way she was now facing. The third was that whoever was holding her was heading in that direction.

She had no idea who was carrying her. It was too dark to see anything, not to mention she couldn't turn her head enough to see them. It obviously wasn't Ruby or Weiss, considering how small they both were, and it was most likely not Blake. Yang doubted she had the strength to carry her with such ease. It could be Doctor Oobleck, but considering whoever carried her smelt more like booze than coffee, it most likely wasn't again. All that really left was some kind of enemy, so she decided she had to escape their grasp.

She began trying to pull their arm away to separate her and them, but they had an extremely strong grip. So the next thing she tried was attacking. "Whoa, hey! Calm down Greenie." They said.

 _'Hey, I recognize that voice...'_ Yang thought. She thought back for a second, trying to place the voice until she remembered just what said voice just said. _'G-GREENIE!?'_ Luckily for her, she was able to place the voice as squarely male, and her arms were free. She **cocked** her arm back, and released a full on punch to the area she knew would hurt most.

The man dropped her and hunched over. She hopped up, and got into her fighting stance, deploying Ember Celica. She stared at the downed man for a minute, before realizing something. _'Wait, I still have Ember Celica...'_ She looked down at her bright weapons, and just as her eyes adjusted to the darkness she looked back at the man. She leaned forward a bit taking a closer look at the man, everything coming back together. The stature, the voice, the scent of booze...

"Man firecracker, that was q-quite a punch." Still hunched over, the man mumbled something about bad luck.

"UNCLE QROW!?" She exclaimed, moving to help him up. "I'm so sorry! What are you doing here? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He sat down and looked up at her. "Did you have to aim there though."

"Well, it's not like you're using it for anything..." She began looking around as Qrow grumbled. "What's going on, anyway? You didn't answer my other question either. What are you doing here?"

"Well, to answer your first question, you managed to literally fall into a White Fang operation. Congratulations." He told her as he finally recovered. "As for your second, I was passing through the area on the way back to Vale, when I just so happened to come across you guys."

She nodded, accepting his answer. "What about Ruby, and the rest of my team?" Qrow tapped his foot on the train in response. "We're going after them, right?"

Qrow scoffed. "I am. You are staying up here."

"What!?" He looked at her with a flat expression. "But they're my team!"

"Yeah, but you also took a massive blow to the head." He pointed behind him, at Oobleck keeping away the hoard. "It would really help if you helped him out." Yang groaned and mumbled something under her breath before running off to assist the doctor. "No back sass!" He called. She just ignored him and continued running. He sighed, "Teenagers..." before opening up a hatch to jump into.

He ran at full speed through each cart. Admittedly, he was worried about Ruby. He wasn't too sure how well she could handle herself in such a confined space. There was a reason Harbinger had a sword mode. A scythe was nice and deadly when you could control the pace and range of battle, but in small spaces where that wasn't an option, it would be a better idea to switch to something more practical. Unfortunately, this was Ruby, and her only other option was sniper mode.

If only she had actually listened when Yang and Tai were getting her hand top hand up to snuff. Or maybe if Signal didn't teach that a Huntsman only needed their weapon, and actually taught hand to hand before the final year.

Qrow was broken out of his musings when he reached a door that seemed to be stuck. These doors shouldn't be locked due to safety measures against fires and Grimm, so he knew something was up. He repeatedly banged against the door, trying to open it when he heard a loud crash and a cry of pain from the inside. "Damn, no time to waste." He said to himself as he took out a vile of fire dust powder, and laid a small pile of it right in front of the door. After re-capping the vile and putting it back, he stepped back and covered his nose just in case, before firing around right into the pile, causing an explosion that blew the door clean off.

He ran into the room before the smoke was even done clearing. He had to find out what was going on in here. He looked around the dusty area, looking for whoever was fighting, but was interrupted by the sound of another explosion, and the whole train shaking. When all the dust cleared, he saw a multi-colored hair girl shakily get up, look around in panic, and then shatter like glass.

He was confused but decided not to think about it too hard. _'Must be a Semblance.'_ He walked to the center of the car, before he heard another explosion and felt another shake, and then tripped on something. He looked down at whatever he stumbled and noticed that it was Crescent Rose. _'Ruby!'_ His head shot back up. Looking around the room, he noticed a ton of boxes pushed up against the opposite wall to the door he entered. He couldn't see here anywhere else, so he began digging through some of the boxes.

His pace began becoming more frantic as there was another explosion. I sounded nearer too. Finally, after a minute or two of more searching, he saw a bit of red sticking out from under some of the lighter boxes. He threw each box against the wall, freeing Ruby from under the pile. He then quickly picked her up and slung her over his shoulder and grabbed Crescent Rose. Failing to open the next door, he jumped up towards the hatch on top of the car and flung it open just in time to turn around and see Oobleck, Zwei, and Yang running toward him and away from another explosion. _'Why's the train exploding!?'_

"Ruby!" Yang shouted as she noticed Qrow leaving the train car. Of course, she wasn't focused on her uncle, but instead on her younger sister, passed out and being carried. "Is she alright!? What happened!?"

"Some girl attacked her. She ran away soon after, though." He looked closer at where they came from, seeing a giant black mass following them. Just as he was about to curse his luck, he heard some slow footsteps from behind. He turned to see the two who were part of Ruby's team. Weiss and Blake if he remembered correctly. Although...

"Weiss?" Yang asked.

Before she could get the other part of the question out though, said heiress replied in shock. "Yang!"

"Thank goodness you're alright," Blake said.

Yang shook her head. "Yeah, I'm fine, but what about you guys. What happened Weiss." She was very concerned. For good reason too, as the white-themed girl had a gash on her shoulder, and blood was seeping through her dress.

"Oh, the brute I was fighting got the better of me. Blake was able to finish him, though. Torchwick too." She shook her head. "Never mind that, though." She looked at Qrow, right in the eyes, and jabbed her finger into his chest. "Who are you, and why do you have Ruby?"

 _'Great. Another Ice Queen.'_ Qrow thought. "Well-" He began but was cut off.

"Guys!" The urgency in Blake's voice was so alarming, it grabbed everyone's attention immediately. They looked at her to see her pointing forward in dread. "We're reaching the end of the tunnel."

There was a stunned silence for a moment before Oobleck kicked everyone back into action. "Does anyone have any kind of shielding ability?" As he was saying this, Qrow wrapped his body around Ruby's.

"On it," Weiss said as she twirled around, plunging Myrtenaster into the train car, and summoning a dome of ice.

Then, everything went white.

* * *

Team SSSN was currently walking the streets of Vale. Their mission had been delayed, and now they were bored.

"I can't believe this," Sun exclaimed.

"Well, hey. At least we got our badges." Neptune said.

"I guess... I just wish we didn't have to get up so early for nothing." Sun hung his head and looked away. He then stopped in his tracks causing Scarlet to run into him.

"Gah! Hey! Don't just stop all of a sudden." He cried.

"Sorry," Sun replied distractedly. He then walked to the storefront he was looking at. There, on display was a brand new scope, perfect for sniper rifles. He thought for a minute, then turned back to his team. "Think I should get this?"

Neptune looked confused for a second before he put two and two together. "Hm... I dunno. Yellow isn't really her color, is it?"

"No, but I could always paint it."

"True..." Neptune looked at Sage and Scarlet, who just shrugged their shoulders. He looked back to the Faunus, and said, "I don't see why not."

Sun nodded and began walking into the store when an explosion rang out across the city. Sun looked back in shock. "What the-"

"Attention all citizens." A siren began blaring, and a woman's voice was projected throughout Vale. "Grimm infestation! Everyone retreat away from the plaza, and to a safe place! Please wait for a Huntsman to come to get you! I repeat..." The message went on to repeat the same words multiple times, but team SSSN barely noticed. They were already headed to the plaza as fast as they could, the store being quickly forgotten.

Sun used his tail to propel himself to the top of a building and lead his group to the disaster zone. They all arrived before any Bullheads from Beacon could, and decided to split up all the tasks after Sun finished purveying the scene. "Okay!" He yelled out to his team. "Sage, Scarlet, you guys to try to find any citizens that may have been caught in the blast!" They nodded and ran off in two separate directions. Sun then pointed to that black mass that was forming. "There are some Huntsmen that are here, but they look like they might be in trouble. They got separated into two groups. One group is that way, and I'll be headed to the other."

"Alright!" Neptune said, and they began running off in two directions. "Hey!" He called, and Sun turned to look at him. "Stay safe, buddy."

Sun nodded, and replied, "You too." They then continued their journey into the depths of a dark hell.

* * *

Ruby opened her eyes blearily. Her body hurt so much. She stumbled to her feet and looked around to get a sense of where she was. She wasn't given much time, however, because she soon noticed some Grimm peering at her. She looked behind her, to her sides, and above her. She was surrounded. _'Stay calm. They want you to panic.'_ She told herself. Calming herself down, she used her Semblance and launched herself to where she saw the small box of red that was her weapon.

She did a small somersault to grab it, but on her way back up, her aching muscles caused her to fumble it. She caught it quickly, however, and paid no mind to it. Putting herself in a defensive position while deploying the scythe, she analyzed her situation the best she could. There were sounds of combat nearby, so she wasn't the only one here. That's good. If she begins to fall apart, or otherwise run into trouble, there was a chance she could be rescued. With that thought in her mind, she flung herself into the looming darkness.

She fought, and fought, and fought, for what seemed like forever. She didn't realize it, but as the fight was advancing onward, the light around her began to diminish. The Nevermore above her were increasing in number. As soon as she realized that the light was decreasing, was when the panic set in. And when the panic set in, is when the Grimm pushed their advantage, squeezing the young girl into a smaller, and smaller space.

As she realized this, a scene flashed in her mind. It was a dark, dank forest. She shook her head, clearing it of that terrifying scene. She then brandished Crescent Rose and flung herself towards the surrounding black mass. To her credit, she had managed to take down a couple dozen, maybe even a hundred of the monsters, but even she wasn't limitless. After a couple minutes, she made a mistake. When she spun around to slash again, she lost her grip. The scythe went flying out of her hands, and into the never-ending sea of darkness. Falling down, the panic really went into overdrive as it felt like every Grimm in the area began converging to that one spot.

They got closer, and closer, as the surrounding area got darker and darker. She closed her eyes and felt the monsters get closer.

"RUBY!" She heard. Her eyes shot open as the never-ending sea of black split into a golden light. Out of that light came light-like versions of her boyfriend.

"Sun!" She yelled as more astral projections of the boy came running through, like pillars of light. The boy then ran into the area himself, clearing away the creatures, and opening up the world to her again.

"Thank the gods." He said relieved. "I saw all the Grimm heading to where you were, and I was so worried." He ranted as he hugged her close. Ruby pushed away after a couple seconds. "Before you ask, your team is already getting help, and your sister is just fine. She's on the other side of those Grimm waiting for us to finish up here." She nodded, but then something else came to mind.

"I lost my weapon. Can you help me get it back?" She asked. He smirked as one of his light clones brought it to her.

"Already got it." He winked, and she giggled, but they soon detached and stood back to back. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be." She replied. They both shot off into opposite direction and worked away at whittling down their enemy. They were making good headway as Ruby made sure she kept a tight grip on Crescent Rose this time as she began twirling away into a tornado of death. She was so focused, that she nearly missed the sound of Sun crying out in pain. She topped in her tracks and looked to where the boy was, seeing a group of at least ten ursi all huddled around.

"SUN!" She screamed and ran over to him. In one slice, she cut all the ursai in half, and let them fall while dissipating.

"Heh heh." Sun chuckled. "Guess you were too mesmerizing for me to look away from."

"Sun, come on. This isn't time for jokes." Ruby chided.

"You sure?" Sun asked as he lifted himself up. He was too damaged though, and he fell back onto his back.

"Of course I'm-" She began, but was cut off.

"LOOK OUT!" Sun yelled as he pushed her aside as best he could, and a Beowulf lunged. Ruby looked on in horror as its claws hit right into Sun's side, and he passed out after a blood-curdling scream.

After that, everything began moving slower. The Beowulf turned to her in slow-motion and leaped. She paid it no mind though because it was moving at the speed of a snail. She watched some blood pour out of Sun's wound. She watched it trail along until it reached where the Grimm used to be standing.

At that point, something within her snapped.

There was a searing pain in her head- no, behind her eyes. She didn't care though.

All she cared about was killing this Grimm

All she cared about was the absolute devastation she would bestow upon all these monsters.

All she cared about...

Was revenge.

With that thought, she released a mighty scream, and it felt like her eyes were about to pop out of her skull. The whole area was lit up like it was the surface of the sun. Everything that dared to stand up to the blast, whether they Human, Grimm or Faunus, they all were swept up in the blast.

Then, everything was weightless.

Ruby didn't feel much. It was to numb to hurt. All she felt, was the call for sleep. When it's so persistent, why try to avoid it anyway.

The light hadn't even dissipated, yet that feeling of weightlessness was the last thing Ruby knew before falling to sleep.

* * *

 **So, school's starting back up. Due to that, I'll likely be even slower updating. Not that it matters much, though. This is just about the end of the fic.**

 **If all goes according to keikaku (Translator's Note: Keikaku means plan (God, I'm such a weeb)), then the next chapter should be the last. I'm a little sad to see this go, but It's been pretty fun.**

 **I'm typing like it's already over...**

 **I'm a weeb, and a dork.**


	15. Chapter 15

Ruby woke up sluggishly. Almost as if each part of her was waking separately. First were her hands. Then her feet. Then arms and legs. Then torso. Working all the way up until the last thing that needed to wake up was her eyes. Those seemed to fight her, however, almost as if they were sealed shut. Every bit of strength she put in was met with a numb pain.

"Hey! I think she's waking up!" She heard someone say. They sounded familiar... Yang?

"You go get Oz. I might need to explain some things to her." Another familiar voice said. This time it sounded gravelly, kind of like Qrow's. "Tai. You go with her."

"What!?" The other male voice sounded offended.

"Unless you want to be the one to explain this to her." There was silence for a minute or two before a set of footsteps was heard heading away.

"Uh, I-I'll catch up to him." The female voice said. More hurried footsteps were heard leaving, and after they faded, the room was silent.

Ruby finally mustered the strength to open her eyes. Everything was blurry. She could see a dark figure to her left, but that was it. The rest was a blur of whites and pale blues. She couldn't tell a single thing apart. She hoisted herself up to a sitting position and blinked a couple times. After that didn't work, she tried rubbing her eyes, but when that didn't work either she shook her head and looked downwards into her jumbled mess of a blanket.

"Hey, there kid. You alright?" Qrow asked. Ruby jumped and looked toward him. She didn't expect him to speak right then.

She opened her mouth to mention her eyesight, but all that came out was a croaky mess. Qrow chuckled and grabbed a small glass next to her bed. He held it out to her, and she tried to grab it but missed entirely. "Can you see right?" She shook her head negatively. "Ah, figures. I thought something like this would happen." He paused. "Here." He held her head up and held the glass to her lips so that she could drink it. With a physical connection, Ruby was able to grab it and chugged the whole glass.

She hadn't even realized how thirsty she was. She fumbled the glass back to Qrow and sat in silence for a small while. "So..." Qrow began. "Any questions? I thought I would've been bombarded by now." He chuckled at the end.

"Yeah..." Ruby said without even thinking. "I got a couple."

"Alright, shoot."

"Well, what happened? Where am I, what time is it, how long was I even asleep? Where's my team- SUN! Where's Sun!?" She nearly shot out of her bed when she realized she had no idea where her previously heavily wounded boyfriend was.

Qrow sighed. "If it's not one, it's fifty..." He muttered. "Alright, to answer each question in order, You shot a giant explosion out of your eyes, in the infirmary, it's..." He checked the wall clock. "About half-past three, almost three weeks at this point, in your room, minus Yang who went to get Oz, and last but not least." He paused. "Your _boyfriend_ is alive." He said the word boyfriend like it was a curse. "Close to fully recovered. The medics want him to stay here though since he refuses to stay still and keeps opening his wound back up." Ruby looked down at her bed.

"C-can I go see him?" She asked.

Before Qrow could answer, another voice said, "Unfortunately not Ms. Rose." Said girl looked towards where she assumed the entrance was and saw a figure of green standing there. "We have a lot to discuss." He said.

Qrow got up and walked over to him. They whispered to each other, though Ruby couldn't tell, and the man walked over to her. "So, if you could just please fix them, that'd be great, Oz."

Ozpin chuckled and placed his cane in front of her eyes. All of a sudden, her eyesight was cleared up, and the world looked just as it did before the eye explosion. "Wow, how'd you do that professor!?" Ruby asked in surprise.

"My cane can do many things." He said, trying to sound like a wise old sage. "Diluting an eye is no problem at all. It would have done that on its own anyway."

"You're cane is so cool!" She screamed and hopped out of bed to grab it and inspect it, only to fall on her face.

Ozpin chuckled. "Maybe you should let your body finish waking up before you try any stunts."

"W-will do professor..." She grunted out. He helped her back up and sat her back down on the bed.

"Alright, well, you two have your little chat. I'm gonna go try to talk to Tai. Probably having an ulcer by this point." Qrow said and walked out of the room. There was silence for a couple more minutes.

"Chat?" Ruby asked after a while.

"Yes, Ms. Rose. As I said before, we have much to discuss."

* * *

Over an hour later, Ruby shuffled out of her room in the infirmary. She had a lot to think about. So much that she didn't even notice her team waiting for her outside until she bumped into Yang.

"Hey, Rubes!" She leaned down to look at her little sister in the eye. "You okay? You seem... distracted."

Ruby tried to put up her patented million gigawatt smile. "I'm fine. I think I just want some more rest right now, though." She walked past her team, not giving any of them a chance to respond. They were almost fully healed, minus a bandage on Weiss' shoulder, so it's not like they couldn't catch up to her, but they just let her walk on.

The halls were empty and quiet. Everyone must have left for Vale or something like that. That gave her more time to think. Her head was a jumbled mess. Silver eyes, her mom, and some secret power that Ozpin refused to tell her the name of that she was the bane of. It was way too much to consume at once. She arrived at her bed and immediately fell asleep.

She dreamed that she was in the forest from before, but this time there was a translucent image of a woman that seemed to back away from her. Without her consent, her body moved closer to the woman, and then she disappeared.

"No. I don't want this. I want to just be a normal girl!"

She woke up with a start. It was the middle of the night, and she was in her pajamas. Yang must have changed her or something like that. She sighed and hopped down from her bed as quietly as she could, and walked out of her room.

She walked aimlessly for a while until she arrived in the commons area. She looked at the couch Sun and she slept on before all the craziness hit. _'Sun…'_ She thought to herself as she sat on the couch, just now realizing that she never went to see him. _'My eyes are supposed to be the thing all Grimm fear, but you still got hurt.'_

She didn't know how long she sat there, but after a while, she snapped back to reality. It was light out now, so she must have been there for a long time. She felt a hand softly land on her shoulder and jumped quickly looking to her left. It was Tai.

"Hey there Ruby."

"D-Dad!" Ruby jumped out of the seat. "What are you still doing here?"

Tai scoffed and looked a little offended. "And leave you here in a coma!? No way!" His expression softened a small bit. "Besides, Ozpin offered me a job, and not having you and your sister around has been rough." Tai hugged her. "I'm so glad you're okay…" Ruby hugged him back, and Tai sniffled. They stayed like that for a couple minutes.

"Hey, dad?"

"Hm?"

"D-" She stuttered. She wasn't sure if she wanted to ask him this, but she already began, so it was too late. "Did mom have silver eyes too?" Tai froze, and then slowly pushed away from his daughter.

"So Qrow told you?"

"Professor Ozpin did."

Tai sighed, and sat on the couch. Ruby joined him. "Yes, Ruby. Yes, she did." Tai looked out the window, not really focusing on anything. "Your mother was one of the greatest, nicest, most heartwarming women in the world. I know you were young, but you gotta remember her cookies." Ruby nodded and smiled nostalgically. "However, she was also one of the busiest women in the world." Ruby tilted her head. "She felt it was her duty to go out and save people all around the world, simply because her eyes obliterated Grimm." Tai sighed and shook his head, looking down at the floor. "It eventually got her killed." Tai looked at his daughter meaningfully.

"Dad…" She looked down at the floor. "B-but Sun got hurt because I wasn't able to do anything. My eyes that are supposed to be able to kill Grimm, didn't do a thing." She paused and looked into her father's eyes. "Even if I could die, I don't want anyone to go through that. If I can prevent that..." She trailed off and looked back to the floor.

Tai sighed. "You really are just like your mother." He then scooted closer to her and hugged her. "I love that about you. I really do, but you need to understand. Summer was gone for months at a time. She was always off in another continent saving millions." Ruby looked at the side of his head in confusion.

"Are you saying that she shouldn't have saved anyone?"

Tai shook his head. "Of course not. She was a hero through and through. I just wish she spent more time with us." He pulled back and looked right at her, completely serious. "She was rarely home for more than months at a time. I don't want that for you. Your drive to save people is really admirable, but I don't want you to go to every corner of the planet searching for some monsters to kill." He hesitated but continued anyway. "Even if it is what Ozpin will tell you to do."

Ruby thought about it for a moment. On the one hand, she didn't want to worry her dad, and going around the world killing Grimm... while it sounded fun, she didn't want anyone to fear for her safety. On the other hand, if she really had the immense power of complete Grimm annihilation, then she should do everything she can to take all of them down, right?

"Whelp!" Tai ended his hug, and stood up, knocking Ruby out of her musings. "I should probably go tell Yang that I found you. Think about it, okay?" Ruby nodded. "I'm taking up your time anyway. You probably want to go see Sun."

Ruby gasped and hopped to her feet, checking her Scroll. 8:23. Man, she really was sitting their a long time. "You're right. Thanks, dad! I'll think about what you said." Ruby ran up and hugged him, before running down the corridor leading to the infirmary.

"ALMOST FORGOT!" He called after her. She turned around. "You don't have to go to classes until next week." Ruby nodded and then turned to continue her trip. Tai sighed and turned around. "I don't see how Qrow can trust you so much. You're stressing her out." He said to the person behind him.

"She's a strong girl. Do you not trust your own daughter?" Ozpin asked him.

"It's not that. I just don't see why you need to get my children involved in your war."

Ozpin thought about it for a while. "They're strong. They hold the hope for the next generation."

Tai just glared at him. "The generation you'll be apart of when your body bites the dust."

"Well, I don't see a problem with some assurance for until then." He chuckled. Tai grunted and stormed off.

"I'm gonna go find my other daughter now."

* * *

"No running! Patients are trying to rest!" A nurse scolded.

"Sorry!" Ruby replied. After getting changed back into her normal outfit, she went to go see Sun. She continued walking until she arrived at a small door. She peered in and smiled when she saw a blond Faunus looking bored laying in bed. She opened the door and walked in.

Sun looked towards the door in a mechanical fashion, but when he saw who was arriving the life was immediately breathed back into him. He tried to get up and run to her, but when he began to, she burst into rose petals and pushed him back down. "Huh?"

"I was told that you keep moving around too much and won't heal."

Sun's eyes went wide and he looked away guiltily. "Y-yeah, but I'm perfectly fine. You can help me get out of here, right Ruby?"

Ruby smiled her patented smile. "Nope!" Sun grunted and put his head down on his pillow. Ruby giggled at his antics and sat down in the chair next to the bed. "If you just lay like that, then you should heal soon enough."

He sighed. "Alright... as long as your here, I guess I could."

Ruby blushed and looked away. "R-right." She shook her head, trying to clear it of the thoughts she was having. "Anyway, I'm so glad you're okay!" She looked back towards him earnestly. "I was so worried! I thought... I thought you might not make it..." She said the last part really quietly. If the room wasn't silent, then Sun might not have heard her.

"I'm all right Ruby. Besides, you were in a coma for almost three weeks. I feel like I have more reason to worry, you know?" He smiled warmly. "I heard you exploded after I passed out." She began blushing harder, more out of humiliation than anything else. "Guess the name Crater Face is truer than I thought."

"Wha-" She was caught off guard. "When did you start talking with Jaune!?"

He laughed. "About a week ago, when Blake came to see me. We just began talking. Turns out, he's a real cool guy."

"He's a good guy to keep around." She said. "As long as he stops adding more fuel to the Yang with his nicknames."

Sun began laughing again. "A-anyway." He said, catching his breath. "What even happened?"

"Uh..." Ruby hesitated. She didn't want to get Sun mixed up in all this silver eye junk. "I guess my temper just exploded?" She tried. Sun just flatly stared at her. He obviously didn't believe it. _'Guess that would be hard to believe.'_ "Alright, fine..." It couldn't really hurt to tell him. "Apparently, my eyes are special, and they are a tool to destroy Grimm." She explained. "It's kind of the reason my mom died..."

Sun didn't say anything. He looked down and thought. Eventually, he looked back at Ruby, who was looking at the ground. He smiled and reached out his hand to wrap it around hers. She jumped when he did. He then pulled it closer, until it brought the girl with it. He then released her hand, and wrapped his arm around her body, and brought her into a particularly uncomfortable hug.

"Sun?"

"Sounds like there's a lot going on." Ruby nodded silently. "Well, just know that I'm here. Always will be." The two stayed like that for a little while, until Sun scooted over to the edge of his bed, and grabbed his Scroll that was on the bedside table. He patted next to him, and said, "Here, we'll watch a movie." He browsed around on his Scroll for a little bit as Ruby stood their astonished.

"Y-you aren't gonna ask anything?"

"Nah. I'm sure that if you need to talk, you'll talk." He found the movie he wanted with an 'aha', and then looked up at her. "Ready to start?"

"..." She stared at him for a second, before smiling and nodding. She laid down right next to him, and they watched the opening sequence. It was a cheesy action flick.

He knew exactly what she needed. Maybe she would have to run around the world saving people, not that she expected different. At least for now, however, she could just stay here, with Sun.

She snuggled closer to him as the main hero blew up a building.

 _'Paradise...'_ She thought.

* * *

 **BIG SIGH.**

 **So, I guess we're done...**

 **Wow, this feels weird. I, uh... Not sure how to articulate it.**

 **I guess I should start on my thoughts about this fic? Yeah, let's do that.**

 **So, my first topic is: Why this fic?**

 **I chose to do this because I needed something to do to break up the tedium of doing Responsibilities of a Parent. I wasn't really enjoying making that as much as I thought I would after the initial excitement died down, so I decided to start something fresh. I was also in the mood for some Red Sun, but there was nothing on here that I really liked too much. Still isn't. Most of the time, this would have been a 'that was the end of it' situation, but after starting RoaP, I thought about the old saying, "If you want something done right, do it yourself." So I did.**

 **Thoughts on the fic itself:**

 **I'm actually really proud of it. Especially compared to RoaP. I was a bit unmotivated to continue writing after I quit it to be perfectly honest. I wanted to end it, because of how it felt to write that compared to DURS. I do plan to one day come back to RoaP and re-write it, just to help fill the hole it left, but that's down the line. This is supposed to be about DURS damn it!**

 **Will this fic get a sequel?:**

 **Most likely! Definitely on the list to do for the future, but I think I want to take a small break from Red Sun at the moment. Plus I need to hammer out the plot, though I was kind of coming up with something in this last chapter. Speaking of, I hope I did well with this ending. First time writing one and all.**

 **Notice for the future:**

 **I'll be updating a little differently for my future fics. You likely won't see an update from me for a while. Basically, with school back in session, I need a new way of writing to help me get out chapters more consistently, so I'll be building a backlog throughout the year, and once I'm done with my next fic, or have a large number of chapters finished, then I'll start publishing again.**

 **Final words:**

 **Thank you, everyone, for reading Days Under a Red Sun. All the reviews I've gotten have really been wonderful, and I want to seriously thank you all.**

 **There's just one last thing I want to say, that I probably should have mentioned a month and a half ago when it was announced, but...**

 **MICHAEL AND LINDSAY JONES ARE HAVING ANOTHER KID!**

 **Congrats to them, though I have no idea how Lindsay still does the high pitched Ruby squeaking.**

 **The world may never know...**


End file.
